Recover from Brain Injuries with Physical Therapy

More and more notice is going toward brain issues, from sports concussions to congenital defects. The focus is fabulous, and now innovative techniques are coming to the fore that may help victims. One new method is known as NDT (Neurodevelopmental Therapy). This can be used in a variety of therapeutic disciplines, including therapy for children with special needs.

At its core, Neurodevelopmental Therapy is a way to look at problems on a very personal level. Pediatric physical therapists use hands-on exercises and the latest machines to teach activities. For example, think of a boy with neurological problems who can't walk due to the problem might break it up into small goals. One would probably be lifting the feet and balancing using the patient's own strength. In this case, the pediatric physical therapist would guide the child hands-on.

Neurodevelopmental Therapy is patient-driven, because they have to set goals. For kids with disabilities, families play a role. For adult patients dealing with issues like stroke or TIB, the goal might be learning to reach to a shelf without support. Some of the best physical therapists who try these techniques say that each patient's ideas about their treatment is very important.

Besides the intuitive sense that it works, Neurodevelopmental Therapy truly gets real, powerful results. Patients might need less help and fewer devices while achieving an improvement in proper positioning. Gains can be made in speech, eating, movement and other occupational therapy tasks.

For kids with disabilities, physical therapists can use Neurodevelopmental Therapy to help with things that will make these kids less dependent on others for care. They can learn to support themselves, climb stairs, or even crawl or stand. Experts believe that some improvement is possible for almost everyone, even if they have been diagnosed with lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy.

The body of research on Neurodevelopmental Therapy isn't very extensive, but the subject isn't controversial. Many of the research papers were about relatively small sample sizes, so aren't widely applicable. However, the method seems to make sense and a growing number of physical therapists for kids with special needs and other specialists are starting to use it.

If you're facing difficult problems with mobility, function or even speech and language, consider finding a what is autism spectrum disorder San Diego, CA expert to help.