Pediatric Physical Therapy published the results of a survey completed by 513 pediatric physical therapists who use support walkers. Support walkers were used most often to improve mobility, gait, participation at school and socialization with peers. In general, the devices were used for one month as a trial period before purchasing. This was followed by […]
Interesting research was published on the influence of gender on surgical outcomes in 34 children with spastic diplegia. Initially following surgery there was no difference on the Gillette Gait Scale between girls and boys. The children were followed for 10 years. Over the course of the 10 years, the girls maintained their enhanced walking ability […]
A recent study assessed the pain of 153 participants (8 -18 years old). The majority of the children had bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (55%) followed by 38% with unilateral spastic, 6% dyskinetic and 1% ataxic. Gross Motor Function Measures varied from Level I through V with the majority of children in Levels I and II. […]
Great news story in support of context therapy to compliment traditional physical therapy for children with cerebral palsy.
Research was published to investigate whether sitting balance could be improved in children with cerebral palsy following the use of motion activated computer games. After using the center of gravity game controller in sitting for three months, “statistically significant improvements were seen in two elements of box sitting using the Chailey levels (shoulder girdle position […]
Open publication – Free publishing – More autism
Pediatrics has published a study on the benefits of providing occupational therapy home programs for children with cerebral palsy. A double blind, randomized controlled trial was done with 36 children with cerebral palsy (mean age 7.7 years old). The children were GMFCS Levels I through V. One group was to receive and follow the OT […]
A comprehensive review was completed on the use of adaptive seating for children with cerebral palsy from January 1990 to December 2010. Five reviews were discovered with all showing generally positive results but lacked significant evidence for “effectiveness for postural control and management, seated posture, upper extremity function, and overall clinical outcomes”. The author concluded […]
A recent study looked at upper limb deformities, upper limb function and its relation to gross motor function. The researchers analyzed data from 234 children with spastic cerebral palsy. The results indicated the following: 70.5% had a limitation in forearm supination 62.8% had problems with wrist and finger extension in at least one limb Thumb-in-palm […]
Gait and Posture published research comparing heel lifts (10, 20 and 30mm) heights in 32 children with cerebral palsy, arthrogryposis and a control group. The cerebral palsy and arthrogryposis groups showed significant changes in the ankle, knee and pelvis whereas the control group only showed significant changes at the ankle. The higher the heel height […]