Tips & Advice
Beyond the Stander
May 28, 2020
by Elena Noble, MPT
Encouraging standing development means thinking creatively. In the home, we can teach standing skills during routine sit-to-stand transfers or toileting breaks. Here’s how to get started.
PT/OT
Teaching Weight Acceptance with the Rifton Activity Chair
January 07, 2020
by Elena Noble, MPT
Beyond the comforts of the sofa or the academics of a classroom, sitting is a learning position – for motor skill building. For those with disabilities that limit standing and walking opportunities, this means engaging in seated postures and activities that challenge core stability, endurance, trunk and head control. And the start of the learning process always begins with transferring out of a...
How To’s
Guidelines for Functional Use of the Pacer Gait Trainer Part II
The Pacer gait trainer is a walking device used in pediatric and adult rehabilitation settings to support individuals with disabilities for upright posture and ambulatory activities. Each Pacer component (or prompt) adjusts to accommodate various positioning needs, and is easily removed when it is no longer required.
Tips & Advice
Guidelines for Functional Use of the Pacer Gait Trainer Part I
October 07, 2019
by Elena Noble, MPT
The Pacer gait trainer is a walking device used across pediatric settings and adult rehabilitation settings to support individuals with disabilities in upright postures and ambulatory activities. With the appropriate supports in the gait trainer, independent mobility becomes a possibility. Each Pacer accessory (or prompt) adjusts to accommodate any positioning need or is otherwise easily removed to...
Evidence Based Practice
Evidence Update: Stretching and Resistance Exercise in Children with CP
August 12, 2019
by Elena Noble, MPT
Improved joint range of motion (ROM) and strength certainly contribute to better functional outcomes in children with cerebral palsy (CP), but is stretching and progressive resistance exercise an adequate intervention to achieve the end? Previous research shows that children with CP have shorter hamstring muscles than their peers. A short or spastic hamstring muscle contributes to gait deviations, and...