Cerebral palsy

Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: Children with CP and Home-based Treadmill Programs September 25, 2017 by Elena Noble, MPT
A young girl uses the treadmill base and pink Rifton Pacer to gait train over a treadmill while assisted by her therapist.
Motor learning suggests that practice, repetition and task specificity are instrumental to task improvement. Sometimes extending the practice of therapeutic activities beyond the clinical environment and into the home is a great way to apply these principles and reinforce the gains made in the clinic. Knowing this, I was interested to read a recent study looking at children with cerebral palsy and the...
Stories In Praise of the Athlete August 25, 2017 by Elena Noble, MPT
Johnny Agar cheers as he is pushed in an all-terrain stroller by his dad while training for the Kona Ironman.
Johnny Agar never considered himself an athlete. Born with cerebral palsy, he used a wheelchair, depended on others to care for him and took his first steps—23 total—at 11 years old. But sports was always part of his life—after all his dad had been a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. But father and son did not bond on the baseball diamond. Inspired by My Team Triumph, a program where able...
PT/OT Getting Better Seat Positioning for the Child with Cerebral Palsy August 22, 2017 by Lori Potts, PT
A teacher smiles at a child with cerebral palsy who is touching a computer screen from her adaptive chair
Cerebral Palsy is a result of early damage to the parts of the brain that control muscle movements. Coordination and posture will be affected to varying degrees and symptoms can range from mild to severe physical disability (1). Some children with cerebral palsy can have mental retardation, seizures, or speech/hearing deficits as well. Although it is not progressive, cerebral palsy is a permanent condition...
Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: The Relationship of Trunk Support to Head Stability May 09, 2017 by Lori Potts, PT
head stability control
Trunk and head control is a challenge for many children with cerebral palsy (CP). This fascinating recent study examines how providing varying levels of biomechanical trunk support affects neural control of head stability, specifically for children with CP in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) Levels IV or V. By definition, GMFCS Level IV indicates children whose walking ability is severely...
Stories No Way Jose! March 14, 2017 by Rachel Mercer, Sales Rep
rifton mobile stander disability donation
“Jose! Jose! No way Jose!"  Lined up on the playground, 500 elementary students chanted their support for Jose as he propelled his very own Rifton mobile stander across the platform at Mayflower Elementary. Then down the long ramp he went to the playground surrounded quickly by his friends, family, the Monrovia mayor, police officers and firemen (and many cameras). What a day! A bright and...
Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: Task-Specific Gait Training Improves Gait Speed January 05, 2017 by Elena Noble, MPT
A therapist guides a boy with cerebral palsy outside in a gait trainer using task-specific activities to help him increase his gait speed
Improving gait parameters is a primary goal of therapy intervention. One of these parameters is gait speed because we know there is a link between how fast we walk and how well we interact with our surroundings. (Just notice how frustrated your aging parents become as their gait slows them down.) Simply put, refining gait through therapy ultimately improves speed and boosts quality of life. There are a...
Stories Biking, Love and a Brother with Disabilities November 28, 2016 by Clare Stober
Karlie Pickett stands by her bicycle waiting for her brother with cerebral palsy on his special needs tricycle.
I’m not normally one to get excited over a commercial masquerading as a feel-good documentary, but here’s one that might just make you feel a bit better about life. It comes from Schwinn, the bike manufacturer. Stay with me for the beginning and watch for the transition around the 2-minute mark. (Spoiler alert: Rifton makes a cameo!)           ...
Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: Selecting Gait Trainer Features September 23, 2016 by Elena Noble, MPT
A therapist assists a young girl smiling as she practices gait training
Once again Ginny Paleg, DScPT, MPT and Roslyn Livingstone, MSc have delivered a valuable literature review, this one on the all-important topic of gait training. In the therapy community we’re well aware of the importance of mobility for the developing mind and body. Because children with cerebral palsy at GMFCS levels IV and V are not independently mobile, supportive gait trainers provide critical...
Stories Hear It from the Only One Who Counts April 07, 2016 by Lori Potts, PT
glamour shot of a pink adaptive tricycle for people with cerebral palsy
Usually we run blog posts from or for clinicians. It’s rare that we have the chance to share the user’s experience, so when we received a product review from a sixth-grade student we knew we had to run it. Jenny Cashion, Ana’s therapist, writes: One of my students, Ana, hadn’t had much success with previous trials on adaptive tricycles. When I introduced her to the large Rifton...
PT/OT Great Outcomes for Adults Who Need Gait Assistance September 14, 2015 by Elena Noble, MPT
A smiling therapist at a rehab facility helps an adult patient with complex disabilities walk in a TRAM device
For children with complex disabilities the transition from school to adult services can be brutal: therapy and equipment that is considered standard in the school suddenly disappears, funding evaporates, and families struggle to bridge the gap. But this is slowly changing. Many healthcare facilities now try to provide a seamless transition into this new stage of life with specialized and comprehensive...
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