Physical Therapy for Kids with Special Needs

A growing amount of people are talking about brain issues, for soldiers, athletes and car crash victims. The focus is awesome, and now new techniques are becoming available that may help victims. One new strategy is known as Neurodevelopmental Therapy (or NDT). This can be used in a variety of therapeutic disciplines, including therapy for kids with disabilities.

Foundationally, NDT is a way to look at impairments on a very personal level. Therapists for kids with disabilities use hands-on techniques and advanced machines to guide patients through functional tasks. For instance, consider the case of a boy who can't grab a fork might set a goal to do it. The therapist might guide the kid through lifting the hand, reaching for the utensil and noticing how it feels and then lifting it. It's all step by step, and hands-on from the time the session begins until the task is accomplished.

NDT is patient-driven, because the kids and other patients must set goals. In the case of children, goals may be set by the parents. For adult patients dealing with problems such as TBI and stroke, the goal could involve walking, standing and more. Some of the best physical therapists who ise these methods say that each patient's ideas about their treatment can make all the difference.

Besides the intuitive sense that it works, NDT truly gets real, powerful results. People treated with it need less help and fewer devices while achieving an improvement in proper positioning. Gains can be made in a variety of functions.

For kids with special needs, pediatric physical therapists can use NDT to help them be less dependent. They can learn to bear their own weight, climb stairs, or even stand up without help. Experts believe that some improvement is within reach of almost any patient, even if they have lifelong conditions.

The scientific research about NDT isn't very thorough, but the subject isn't hotly contested, either. Many of the studies have been done on just a few patients, so aren't widely applicable. However, the method seems to make sense and a growing number of physical therapists for children and other specialists have adopted its techniques.

If you need help with mobility, function or even speech and language, consider finding a what is asperger San Diego, CA expert for a few sessions.