LEFT : Shelley Schmidt , PTA gait training with her patient Gabe , 18 year old from Rochester RIGHT : Justice encouraging her sister Tessa while she receives intensive PT at Euro-Peds ( 7-year-old twins from Clinton Township )
multiple places to support , challenge , and encourage patients to stand , swing , reach , step , or whatever is needed in that session .
• Sensory Integration – Consists of manual techniques .
When you visit the Euro-Peds facility , you see children in their rooms , encouraged – often laughing – at the progress they make . They know they experience progress , and degrees of independence and strength , new to them . The care is personalized and continually reevaluated , as progress or stubbornness is monitored . There is no “ template ” every case is special and treated that way .
In the second phase of therapy , a number of activities are practiced which include balance , coordination and functional activities such as head control , rolling , sitting , crawling and walking .
• Balance and Coordination – These skills are essential in order to maintain different positions as well as to be able to move through different positions independently .
• Functional Activities – Includes activities such as rolling , crawling , kneeling , transfers , standing , stair climbing , etc .
• “ Gait ” Training – Walking with and without assistive devices , some of which are recent innovations and special to Euro-Peds .
• Suit Therapy – ( if approved by physician ) Euro-Peds was the first program in the U . S . to offer suit therapy for strengthening , balance and functional activities . Suit therapy increases awareness , and positions the child in a more ideal alignment during these activities ( They struck this visitor as soft , friendly body armor ). Suit therapy is typically done for one to two hours per day after hip x-rays are taken .
• Universal Exercise Unit ( UEU ) – Continues through most therapy . These 6.5x6.5- foot “ cages ” were first offered in the U . S . by Euro-Peds .
Euro-Peds also makes available Home Exercise Programs ( detailed written home exercise program with digital pictures . Videos can be provided for guidance ) and referrals for orthotics , occupational and speech therapy .
Receiving specialized physical therapy from two to four hours daily , children usually do a two-week session the first time to make sure they can tolerate intensive physical therapy . After this first session , the PT can recommend whether two- , three- or fourweek sessions are best .
“ We never underestimate a child ,” said Michelle Haney , PT , MSPT , director of Euro- Peds . She joined the staff of Euro-Peds National Center for Intensive Pediatric PT ( Euro-Peds ’ formal descriptive name ) in 2001 … as a physical therapist . Her expertise and responsibilities grew , all beginning with a heart for her own special needs sister .
“ My parents were told she would never walk ,” Haney recalled . “ But with great care and challenging treatment , at age 12 she did walk !”
She carries the empathy for those victims of neurological disorders , and their families . She also is very familiar , as is Euro-Peds as treatment center , with the many , many
Michelle carries the empathy for those victims of neurological disorders , and their families . She also is very familiar , as is Euro-Peds as an institution , with the many , many challenges attendant to special-needs situations : the non-medical factors . “ I appreciate the small things ,” she said . challenges associated with special needs situations : the non-medical factors . “ I appreciate the small things ,” she said .
But the “ small things ” are not always small : Insurance is difficult to navigate ; reimbursements can be slow and always challenging ; Medicaid reimburses , generally 20 percent of PT costs . Et cetera .
As part of its mission , Euro-Peds will not turn away patients it deems suitable for its therapy regimens . Families who travel from out of the region are accommodated , for instance with the nearby Marriott Hotel that offers special rates in those circumstances .
Since we have mentioned smiling faces , and
“ never underestimating ” their children , we present some notes of visits made during therapy in those bright rooms .
A cheery 9-year-old , Tessa , was fitted so she could stand up – with help , at this stage of her progress – but proud to be taking her first steps . Her mom said , “ There is no substitute for knowing what it is to move her feet and go forward !” The Euro-Peds equipment makes that possible . I can testify that smiles like hers are not a grimace of pain , but joy and an awareness of progress .
Matt , who suffers from Traumatic Brain Injury , began at Euro-Peds when he was young , and is now in his early 20s . He reports every day , two hours every day of PT , and is able to express his happiness . It is rewarding to see the good-natured bantering , not only words of encouragement between staff and patients ; there is a family feeling .
Don is also in his 20s , and has been coming to Euro-Peds since it opened in 1999 . CP is his challenge , but he has made such progress that he now assists with activities . This alone is an encouragement to newcomers and their families .
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Innovative Health - Winter 2017