When people think about physical therapy, they envision exercises that target muscles that have been injured due to an accident. But can physical therapy help a child with a severe physical disability?
The short answer is yes! Children and families with severe physical disabilities can benefit from the knowledge and resources that pediatric physical therapists can provide to help assist with improving the development of these two key factors:
- Motor development. Your child’s mobility will greatly be affected by physical growth and strengthening of their bones, how effective they build muscle, and the ability to move and touch his/her surroundings.
- Cognitive development. This term refers to the development of your child’s ability to think, remember, solve problems, and make decisions as they grow to adulthood.
Physical therapists can also make suggestions and recommendations that can potentially improve your child’s daily activities.
How Can Pediatric Physical Therapy Services Help Children With Severe Physical Disabilities?
The goal of physical therapy depends on why it’s needed but when it comes to children with severe disabilities, the goal is to:
- Reduce pain
- Improve mobility
- Manage chronic illnesses
Recommendations From Physical Therapists
Pediatric physical therapists can provide a wide range of recommendations that can help you and your child work together to improve the effects of their physical disabilities.
Here are a few areas that they can help:
- Recommendations for seating and equipment (adaptive equipment and assistive technology) that can be used in the home to support the head, arms, spine, hips, and legs to allow for participation in family activities.
- Recommendations for car seats to safely support their head and body.
- Provide education and training for proper positioning and body alignment in the home
- Provide education and training on proper movement and mobility at the joints and muscles.
- Recommendations and training with potential equipment options to help with head, trunk, and pelvis control while they are laying, sitting, standing, and walking.
- Perform pediatric physical therapy exercises that will ease the pain by fortifying large muscle groups.
Help Your Child Overcome Their Severe Physical Disability Challenges
At Carolina Pediatric Therapy, we provide child therapy paired with parent coaching to help children develop the skills they need to overcome obstacles, such as those that arise from physical disabilities. Our physical therapists work hard to improve physical development in infancy and beyond.
Schedule your appointment today and we will be glad to serve you in person or virtually.
