5 Benefits of Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (Even If Your Child “Can’t Walk”)
Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (BWSTT) is a long fancy name for walking on a treadmill with support. “Body weight supported” is usually done with the help of certain types of equipment (i.e Universal exercise unit, gait trainer, etc.) Here specifically, are the things I have seen it help with firsthand. Improved Endurance: Ahhh yes,…
5 Reasons Why Your Child May Have Balance Issues
We see and hear reports of balance issues a lot…. whether your child has difficulty navigating throughout the community or even just a hard time standing in place by themselves, balance is HUGE for their ability to perform daily tasks independently. There are not only five reasons your child may have poor balance, but here…
Do You Want To Understand What It Is Like?
Throughout the years I have been working with special needs families, one thing has always remained consistent; They are treated differently. I have heard countless stories of struggles parents face, but also some really amazing stories too. I recently had a conversation of a mother of a child I work with. We were talking about…
Speech and How it Relates to Muscle Control
Over the years there have been research articles linking speech and voice production to gross motor development and control. Cut the fancy lingo and what do you have? Speech production is linked to physical strength and milestone achievement! How? Well, let’s explain… So to understand the correlation, you first have to understand two different muscle…
Why You Should Break The Habit of W-Sitting
Bad habits …. we all have them. Whether is biting your nails, fidgeting with your pen, cracking your knuckles….the list is endless. Usually these are pretty harmless poor habits but other times, like W-Sitting, it can have a significant effect on your child. A lot of the time parents don’t even know what it is…
Proof that Parents Need Support
Just this month, an article came out about parent experiences in transitions for their child with Cerebral Palsy. I read through the article full of parent experiences when transitioning their child to developmental/rehab services. This article is specific to parents with children with Cerebral Palsy, however this can relate to all parents of special needs…
5 Tips for a G-Tube Blended Diet
I am no nutritionist, but I have been speaking with some other professionals in the field about G-tube fed diets and have discovered a few consistent themes in these conversations. If your child isn’t on formula anymore or you are in the process of switching from formula to a blended diet – make sure to…
How Does Riding a Bike Help Developmental Skills?
Recently in the clinic I was asking a parent if her daughter has ever ridden an adaptive bicycle. She said she wasn’t sure but that she probably did in school. She then asked, “what kinds of things would that help her with anyway?” “So, I figured I’d answer it for all of you who may…
Should Your Child Crawl Before They Walk?
Developmental milestones, specifically crawling before walking, has become a topic of debate among pediatricians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and so on. I was working on crawling recently with a client when the topic came up. Why do they need to crawl before they walk? There’s evidence it may not matter and that if they skip…
Belly Breather VS. Chest Breather and Why It Affects Your Loved One’s Balance:
So let’s review…We talked recently about the “soda can model” of breathing and how it affects posture. (If you didn’t get a chance to read that and would like more details click here). We discussed how important it is for all of the pressures to balance so that we can function and go about our…
