Cerebral Palsy Treatment

Occupational Therapy Treatment for Cerebral Palsy

Our occupational therapists focus on fine-motor skills and small muscles, which include hands, feet, mouth, fingers and toes. They are experts at advising you and your child on easier methods of feeding, dressing and everyday mobility, and will help you find the specialized equipment your child needs to help him in everyday activities, such as modified spoons and cups for easier feeding, and toys that will help the development of motor skills. An important aspect of occupational therapy treatment is to assess the child’s sensory system to determine if a child has difficulty processing sensory information. A child with cerebral palsy may experience sensory processing difficulties as a result of central nervous system damage, or sensory processing issues might develop secondary to the limited sensory experiences that these children have as a result of their limited motor abilities. Occupational therapy will help determine your child’s abilities and form appropriate goals to help your child reach.

Physical Therapy Treatment for Cerebral Palsy

Physical therapy is one of the most important treatment interventions for cerebral palsy. The job of the physical therapist is to help a child’s mobility to develop and to carry out and teach exercises designed to avoid contractures, bone deformity, and unwanted movement. Our physical therapists are trained to work with your child to enable him or her to achieve their maximum physical potential. Physical therapy treatment may include activities involving the legs, such as walking, using braces and/or crutches, and rehabilitation after a surgery. Areas addressed in treatment may include: functional skills, pain management, balance, fitness, gait training and posture. Since CP is a disorder of the central nervous system, it is important to work with therapists who understand neurological functioning. Our therapists have been trained in neuro-developmental treatment (NDT) methods to maximize the results they can achieve with a patient.

Speech Therapy Treatment for Cerebral Palsy

The goal of speech and language therapy treatment is to help a child establish functional communication abilities. The speech and language therapist assists the child and family in discovering and using an effective means of communication with the outside world. This might be through activities that encourage speech, signing, electronic aids or even a picture board. Children with cerebral palsy often tend to be slow in developing verbal communication skills. Even if a child with Cerebral Palsy is able to speak well, speech therapy treatment can assist them by helping to make speech clearer and easier to understand, building their language skills and vocabulary, learning to speak in sentences, or improving their listening skills.

At Kid’s Creek Therapy, our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have the understanding and expertise to help address the speech and language problems faced by many children with cerebral palsy. Our SLPs have undergone additional training to specifically meet the needs of children with cerebral palsy in the areas of: oral placement/oral motor planning, oral motor strengthening, and myofunctional therapy (including feeding/swallowing skills). Our trainings and treatment methods include: PROMPT, Sara Rosenfeld Johnson techniques (Talk Tools), and Beckman Oral Motor.