Cerebral palsy

PT/OT Our Body, Gravity, and the New Discipline of Posture Care Management August 20, 2018 by Tamara Kittelson Aldred
A caregiver reading a picture book to a young boy sitting in a Rifton Activity Chair.
Twenty-four-hour posture care management is quite new in North America, but its roots go back to the 1980s with foundational work occurring even earlier. Children and adults with dysfunctions of muscle tone, reflexes, muscle weakness and joint contracture have impaired movement and develop adverse postures as a direct consequence of their positioning relative to gravity. These can result in complications...
News Advocacy for Cerebral Palsy June 15, 2018 by Michele Shusterman
A teenage boy walks outside in a Rifton Pacer Gait Trainer while an aid assists him.
Recently, Rifton caught up with Michele Shusterman, mother of Maya and founder/president of CP NOW, a cerebral palsy nonprofit. CP NOW provides educational and support resources to the CP community and funds new research ideas. Although newly formed, CP NOW is gaining recognition and receiving accolades from families, professional organizations and CP centers throughout the US, particularly for their CP...
PT/OT Treadmill Base: A Solution for Gait Practice June 01, 2018 by Lori Potts, PT
A young girl walks on a treadmill with the aid of a Rifton Pacer, while a caregiver gives her instruction.
Body-weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) is widely recognized as a promising intervention to improve ambulation for individuals with neuromotor disability, with diagnoses including cerebral palsy¹, spinal cord...
Stories Great Strides with the Dynamic Rifton Pacer and Treadmill Base May 07, 2018 by Shirley Dzikowski, PT
A client uses the Rifton Pacer to walk on a treadmill.
I have had great success with the dynamic Rifton Pacer gait trainer matched with Rifton’s treadmill base. Because my clients are completely supported, including their hands and arms, they are safe to work over a moving treadmill base. Some of my clients even “run” on the treadmill at 2.0 and 2.5 mph as I have placed them up a bit higher and they learn how to move their feet quicker. This...
PT/OT Tips and Tricks for Getting More Out of Your Rifton TRAM April 23, 2018 by Christy Hupka, PT
A young client standing and walking with his physical therapist with the aid of a Rifton TRAM.
The Rifton TRAM provides a lot of flexibility within our school setting for standing, walking, and transfers.  Mostly it is used for safe transfers that would typically require a two-person lift.  However, in one of my schools it has provided a great solution for two students who needed more flexibility in their standing and walking routines at school. Here are two examples: Case 1:  This...
PT/OT New Webinar on Motor Learning April 17, 2018 by Lori Potts, PT
A young teenager standing in a Rifton Pacer Gait Trainer doing and activity with a caregiver.
On April 12, we hosted a webinar, Progressive Gait Training: Motor Learning Strategies and the Research, discussing motor skill acquisition through practice, feedback and prompt reduction. It concluded with a demonstration of the Rifton Pacer and tips for therapeutic and functional use of the Pacer emphasizing the benefits of dynamic support and the reduction of physical assistance to increase...
Stories March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month March 25, 2018
A client smiles and walks outside with a blue Rifton Pacer gait trainer.
Rifton products have been featured in several posts on Instagram that celebrate CP warriors, so we would like to share some of our favorites with you.   Noah had a great time at his friends birthday party. #cpwarrior #cpawareness #cpdad A post shared by Nickyd (@nic85jd) on Mar 26, 2018 at 11:08am PDT   Shout Out to ALL our fellow CP warriors 💪🏼💚#cpawareness #rifton #kmh...
Stories The Magic of the Floating Frame March 19, 2018 by Amanda Blankley
A teenage boy using a gray Rifton Pacer gait trainer to walk.
Saad is a young man who just transitioned to our adult services from his school program in September 2017, and even though I try hard not to have favorites, Saad tests my resolve; he never fails to brighten my day. When Saad first arrived, he only had the wheelchair he came in. We put him in an old-style Rifton XL Pacer. Saad has cerebral palsy, involving a complex history with both his knees requiring...
PT/OT Intervening Early for Better Mobility in CP March 06, 2018 by Elena Noble, MPT
A young girl with cerebral palsy receives early intervention gait training services while walking in a pink Pacer.
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...
PT/OT Child-focused vs Context-focused Intervention February 13, 2018 by Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA
A young girl smiles as she sits in her activity chair in the cafeteria during her child-focused intervention curriculum.
In a fascinating research project, Law and colleagues set out to test the efficacy of context-focused intervention.¹ What is the context-focused approach? In this approach, the primary therapist (either an occupational or a physical therapist), works with the parents to identify tasks the child is interested in learning. The therapists assists to identify task and environmental modifications and...
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