Cerebral palsy

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...
Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: Standing Programs for Hip Flexibility July 27, 2015 by Elena Noble, MPT
A young boy with spastic cerebral palsy smiles and claps his hand as while in a standing device
Secondary to the motor disorders which affect their physical development, children with spastic cerebral palsy tend to lose lower limb range of motion between infancy and adolescence. Researchers have measured hip abduction decreases of nine degrees in this population. Since loss of hip abduction makes balance and walking difficult, maintaining hip abduction becomes a crucial intervention. Because of...
News Cerebral Palsy and the NYC Ballet: In Praise of Dance July 06, 2015 by Carmen Hinkey
A little girl with cerebral palsy in a pink tutu holds onto a ballet bar as she learns to dance
Albert Einstein said dancers are the athletes of God.  And St. Augustine, “I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community….O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.” NYC Ballet discovered that ancient wisdom is still true today, when they responded to a mother’s idea about a...
Evidence Based Practice Evidence Update: Children's Perspectives on Robotic Gait Training April 27, 2015 by Elena Noble, MPT
A young boy in an over-ground gait trainer smiles as he walks down the driveway
Gait training is a fundamental intervention in pediatric rehabilitation. At present, over-ground assistive devices and treadmills dominate the field, but we’re now seeing emerging robotic technologies that offer solutions to normalize and enhance the quality of gait mainly through the application of motor learning principles and the use of dynamic weight-bearing systems. We need to learn more about...
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