Physical Therapy
NAPA Center offers physical therapy to children and adults improving balance, coordination and gross motor skills such as rolling, crawling, sitting, walking, running and jumping.
All of our therapists (physical, speech, and occupational) work together as well as with the family members to assess the current functioning level and create an individualized plan to help your child achieve optimal results.
Physical therapy can be of benefit to your child if he/she is experiencing or has experienced:
- Prematurity
- Torticolis/Wry Neck (head tilt)
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Down Syndrome
- Spina Bifida
- Cerebral Palsy
- Stroke
- Delays in developmental milestones
- Hypotonia (weakness, low tone)
- Hypertonia (tightness, high tone)
- Gross motor incoordination
- Motor planning difficulties
- Gait difficulties
- Orthotic concerns
- Neurological problems
Physical therapy services for children may help improve a child’s:
- Range of Motion – how far a joint can bend or straighten
- Strength – strength against gravity
- Balance – ability to maintain balance (tilting and righting responses) and to keep oneself from falling (protective responses)
- Reflexes – automatic responses seen particularly in infants (palmar grasp, positive support, asymmetrical tonic neck reflex [ATNR] and labyrinthine)
- Posture – alignment of the body in various positions
- Tone – natural resistance in a muscle (increased tone is stiffness and decreased tone is floppiness)
Physical therapy services for children may include:
- Stretching and strengthening activities and exercises to increase a child’s range and quality of movement
- Establishing or reshaping movement patterns to follow normal development
- Improving balance and equilibrium skills
- Improving postural control
- Gait training (walking)
- Evaluating the need for adaptive equipment and orthopedic devices
- Helping parents understand ways to play and interact with their children to stimulate good quality movement patterns in the home environment.
At NAPA we have highly trained pediatric therapists that know how to challenge the child in a loving environment, pushing their performance and helping them achieve new developmental milestones.