Knee Surgery and Arthrogryposis

The Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics published research on ambulation gains following surgical correction for knee flexion contractures in children with arthrogyposis. Prior to surgery at 2 through 16 years of age, 11 children were non ambulatory, 2 were household ambulators and 1 was a community ambulator with orthosis. The children underwent an average of 1.8 […]

Wii Motion Analysis

Now this is really cool, especially if you are a nerdy, techie therapist. This physical education teacher, Mr. Robbo, explains how to use your Wii remote to do some simple motion analysis. You download a program, connect your Wii remote to your computer with blue tooth capability and ‘voila’ instant motion analysis. Give someone the […]

Motor Planning in Toddlers

Child Development published research on movement planning in toddlers. Thirty five toddlers, ages 18-21 months, were observed building a tower with blocks or placing blocks into a container and kinematic measurements were taken. The kinematic measurements indicated that there was a longer decelerating phase when the hand approached the block for pick up versus putting […]

Assessing Self Regulation

Pediatric therapists and early childhood teachers frequently assess a child’s ability to self regulate. Child Trends has released an excellent document on assessing self regulation. Included in the document are several simple questionnaires to determine a child’s ability to self regulate. The paper recommends that children participate in out of school programs to help improve […]

Including All Kids

In the classroom, on the playground and during recess all children should feel included. Many times pediatric therapists focus on environmental modifications. Don’t forget other types of modifications as well. Each child can bring their own unique abilities to a classroom setting. Here are several ideas to ensure that all kids are included during the […]

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Therapy Balls in the Classroom

The American Journal of Occupational Therapy published a single subject design research study on the effectiveness of using therapy ball chairs on classroom participation in children with autism. Six boys with autism spectrum disorder were assessed using video recordings during circle time when they were sitting on the therapy balls. The results indicated that each […]

Working Hard for Food

An interesting study was done in mice that indicated the harder the mice worked for food the more they enjoyed it. Using levers, the mice pressed the lever on time to get a tasty treat and 15 times to get a low calorie treat. The mice preferred the food that they had to work harder […]