Adaptive Mobility
and Positioning

I recently attended the annual American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting (APTA CSM) in New Orleans. Among the wealth of great programming, I chose a course looking at early intervention for children with cerebral palsy (CP), and I’d like to share a few points I took away. For therapy purposes, early intervention means providing services to a child before two years of age...

Gait training is central in the rehabilitation of individuals with neuromotor disabilities. In clinical circles, there is considerable debate over whether gait training is best performed over a treadmill or over ground. Is one intervention more effective than the other? The research on this topic is inconclusive at best. What we do know, however, is that studies comparing the two gait training approaches...

Adaptive gait devices come with a wide range of positioning accessories for supporting upright and ambulatory postures. Of these, arm supports are frequently used to provide basic upper extremity placement and positioning. But when understood and used correctly, arm supports can do so much more, particularly when it comes to positioning in gait. Here they can assist with weight-bearing, stepping, head...

Building off the foundational concepts of neuroplasticity and motor learning, clinical gait training is an advancing intervention. With the aim to provide independence in gait and a full recovery for those with developmental or acquired disabilities, this discipline continues to incorporate new research and approaches into existing intervention protocols. In the last few years we’ve seen increased...

Since our newest items, the Rifton TRAM and the New Pacer both have the capacity to support walking practice and have similar prompts, including arm prompts, trunk support, and walking saddle, therapists often wonder which to choose for ambulation or gait training. Because the TRAM does a lot more than gait training – it’s a three-in-one device that combines sit-to-sit...

Typically developing children reach most motor milestones in a fairly predictable manner. By six months babies are rolling; by eight months they are creeping on all fours and sitting on their own and by ten-twelve months they are standing and getting ready to take their first steps. During this part of the first year of life, typically developing babies are exploring their environment, interacting with...

Rifton’s Dynamic Pacer has much to offer in the way of positioning options for people with disabilities. With three choices of bases, dynamic upper frame functionality, a multi-positioning saddle and so many other prompts and supports, clients can experience the best positioning possible for successful gait training. Therapists know how tough it can be to remember each client’s specific...

Often parents of children with disabilities – and adults who have incurred serious injuries – seek out walkers to enable better mobility and walking practice. While walkers have their place in rehabilitation, these very basic support devices offer very little when compared to gait trainers – and even less when compared to the new Rifton Pacer gait trainer. What’s so special...

The 1980’s, a tumultuous decade by any measure, was also the period we first introduced the Rifton gait trainer. Aside from its original purpose—to provide a means of upright mobility for individuals with severe disabilities—much about the product has changed, largely as a result of the steady, rich flow of design feedback we get from therapists around the world. And that change...

Walking is a complex function and dynamic mobility features are important in gait training equipment as they assist in creating natural and more typical gait patterns. When we talk about dynamic gait training, we are appreciating the often unobserved but significant shifts of the body (as indicated by its center of gravity) particularly in the vertical and lateral directions for energy efficient and...