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INTENSIVE PHYSICAL THERAPY INSTITUTE

PEDIATRIC PHYSICAL THERAPY

FOR CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY
AND OTHER SPECIAL NEEDS

We are open during COVID-19 and are CDC Compliant!

Equipment

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Equipment

The equipment used in our pediatric physical therapy promotes correct alignment, allows for feedback to the brain, gives support and stability while the child grows in ability and confidence.

The NeuroSuit™

  • Brings the body into correct alignment.
  • Provides compression distributed throughout the body.
  • Increases awareness of the body.
  • Provides resistance with every movement, thus increasing strength.
  • Creates NEW pathways to/from the brain, allowing new or improved motor skills to be formed.
  • Provides dynamic correction of movements, reinforcing proper movement during skills such as walking.

The NeuroSuit™ Background

The NeuroSuit™ is an orthotic device (exoskeletal), designed after the original Adeli or "Penguin” suit. It is one of the most effective tools in physical therapy for children with disabilities. The original was created for Russian cosmonauts to reverse the effects of zero gravity following their lengthy space expeditions. The suit is an orthotic device that can be fitted to promote more normal body alignment.

The main components of the garment are: vest, shorts, knee and elbow pads, and modified shoes. All these components are linked together by elastic bungees, which are placed over the main muscular structures of the body to help recruit those muscles to function in the correct patterns and alignment. The constant force to the joints, muscles and tendons sends information to the brain.

The brain then starts to organize the information, producing a more normalized postural tone. The different changes in the body alignment and brain facilitation are achieved by the correct application of the suit by a physical therapist who is qualified and trained in the use of the NeuroSuit.™

This suit enables our physical therapists to use their hands-on skills to maximize functional activities. With the help of the suit to correct alignment we can reduce our hands-on guidance, allowing the child to perform the activities with increasing
independence.

 

When applied correctly, the NeuroSuit™:

  • Brings the body into correct alignment.
  • Provides compression distributed throughout the body.
  • Increases awareness of the body.
  • Provides resistance with every movement, thus increasing strength.
  • Creates NEW pathways to/from the brain, allowing new or improved motor skills to be formed.
  • Provides dynamic correction of movements, reinforcing proper movement during skills such as walking.

 

Benefits:

  • Re-trains the central nervous system
  • Provides external stabilization
  • Normalizes muscle tone
  • Aligns the body to as close to normal as possible
  • Provides dynamic correction
  • Normalizes (corrects) gait pattern
  • Provides tactile stimulation
  • Influences vestibular system
  • Improves balance
  • Improves coordination
  • Decreases uncontrolled movement in ataxia and athetosis
  • Improves body and spatial awareness
  • Supports weak muscles
  • Provides resistance to muscles to further enhance strengthening
  • Improves speech production and its fluency through head control and trunk support
  • Promotes development of both fine and gross motor skills
  • Improves bone density
  • Helps to decrease contracture
  • Improves hip alignment through vertical loading over the hip joint
More Information

Universal Exercise Units

These steel units have three framed walls and a top, resembling a cage. They are referred to as the Spider Cage and the Monkey Cage, depending on usage.

 

The cage promotes stability, balance and control, and self-confidence

Universal Exercise Units

These steel units have three framed walls and a top, resembling a cage. They are referred to as the Spider Cage and the Monkey Cage, depending on usage.

 

The Universal Exercise Units are based on therapeutic principles developed over many years and are now successfully integrated into intensive physical therapy. It helps children with neurological dysfunction achieve real and lasting improvement.

 

 

The Spider Cage

The Spider Cage is effective in providing physical therapy for children with disabilities while providing the effects of mechanical forces that interact with our neuromuscular system. This allows the brain to give a desired response while sitting, standing and balancing. The child is aided by eight bungee cords, which give him or her the ability to maintain postures that can’t be achieved independently. The bungees are attached to a
belt on the child’s waist, resembling the eight legs of a spider, hence the name “Spider Cage.”

 

The physical therapist facilitates differnet movement patterns and sensory input to allow the child to generate a normal response. As the child's neuromuscular system gains more control, the assistance is progressively decreased.

 

 

The Monkey Cage

The Monkey Cage is the same as the Spider Cage, with the addition of a table or another flat surface. The child is assisted in different patterns to normalize posture or tone or to  facilitate muscular isolation. Depending on the child’s needs, legs and/or arms are placed in slings suspended by bungee cords, sometimes giving the appearance of a monkey, hence the name “Monkey Cage.”

 

We customize movements according to the child’s needs and condition.

More Information

The Stander

Advantages
  • Increase mineral bone density
  • Assist in the formation of the hip joints
  • Decrease risk of bladder infection
Posture

The body achieves correct postural alignment in the upright position working against the effects of gravity

Adjustments

While in the stander, we can adjust for differences in leg length to achieve balance 

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