How a Pediatric Physiotherapist Helps Children with Special Needs?

Being a parent, your biggest priority is your child, but what if you have a child with special needs? What if your greatest joy, watching your child take their first steps, speak their first words, or run into your arms after a long day, remains a dream?

Yes, for some parents, these milestones come later or may be out of reach. We understand that seeing your child struggling with basic movements, coordination, or daily tasks due to physical and developmental challenges is heart-wrenching.

But a paediatric physiotherapist can bring that joy back to you in plenty of ways. With this guide, you can find out how these healthcare experts help children live a better, more independent life.

Who Is a Pediatric Physiotherapist?

Pediatric physiotherapists, also known as child physiotherapists, help babies and toddlers improve their movement, strength, and overall physical ability. At its core, they understand the tactics of typical child development and know how it works in balance with body systems and functions.

In simple terms, besides treating injuries in kids, they cure children with developmental delays, neurological disorders, and physical disabilities.

When Should Parents Take Their Kid to a Pediatric Physiotherapist?

Here are some signs that your child needs help from a paediatric physiotherapist:

➔ When the kid is not walking and crawling properly, it’s a concern.

➔ A child keeps turning their head to one side or is inclined toward one side of their body.

➔ Walking in an unusual manner or on their toes.

➔ If a child struggles to perform gross motor tasks like hopping, jumping, or skipping.

➔ Was born with a condition affecting muscles or bones.

➔ Have trouble keeping up with peers when they play.

Conditions Treated by Pediatric Physiotherapists

Recently, there has been a substantial increase in interest in paediatric physical therapy due to the growing number of disabilities in newborns and toddlers. The common conditions paediatric physiotherapists deal with include:

➔ Cerebral Palsy

This is a condition where movement and coordination are impacted by a group of disorders. This disorder mainly targets the brain either before or at birth and affects the child’s ability to move, maintain posture, and balance.

Experts, like pediatric physiotherapists in Krishna Nagar, Delhi, provide a dedicated treatment plan to improve muscle strength, flexibility of movement, balance, coordination, and range of motion. In addition, they even help prevent contractures and joint dislocations.

➔ Autism Spectrum Disorder

It is a developmental and neurological disorder that influences social conduct and communication. Certainly, how a child interacts with others, communicates, learn, has language difficulties, and behaves. It can be diagnosed at any age. A paediatrician supports autistic children by enhancing gross motor skills, body coordination, and the ability to participate in physical activities.

➔ Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is also a group of genetic disorders. This leads to progressive muscle weakness and loss of muscle mass over time. As a result, it impacts walking, jogging, climbing stairs, and other physical activities. A therapist educates a kid how to use adaptive equipment and helps maintain muscle strength, balance, and more.

➔ Down Syndrome

It is a genetic syndrome that happens due to the availability of an extra chromosome. As a result, it causes poor muscle tone, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and frayed joints. A therapist, on the other hand, uses gentle exercises to enable kids to reach key developmental milestones.

➔ Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

JIA is a kind of chronic autoimmune disease that drives joint inflammation, stiffness, and pain in children under 16. For this condition, Paediatric physiotherapists relieve pain or inflammation, improve range of motion, strengthen muscles, and enable kids to move independently.

➔ Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited disorder which affects the lungs and digestive system. This usually occurred due to an excessive mucus buildup in the lungs and other organs, leading to blockages and breathing problems. Doctors teach children how to clear mucus from their lungs, prevent malnutrition, and help with nutrient absorption.

➔ Spina Bifida

Spina Bifida is a problem related to spine and spinal cord development where the spine doesn’t form properly. Under this condition, a protective membrane bulges out of a gap in the spinal bones. This occurs due to incomplete closure of the neural tube during pregnancy. A paediatrician applies a treatment focused on muscle strengthening, improved mobility, and the use of assistive devices like braces or walkers.

➔ Gross Motor Delay

Do you know gross motor delay is found in up to 68% of toddlers with ASD? Children with GMD experience delays in the development of their gross motor abilities. What do gross motor skills refer to? Basically, it refers to large movements like walking, running, and jumping.

➔ Post-Surgical Conditions (Pediatric Physiotherapy)

Chances are, your kid may experience pain, stiffness, or weakness after surgery. In that case, the therapist helps them regain their strength, balance, and confidence through a variety of movement training. For example, a therapist includes fun exercises so that the kids don’t procrastinate while focusing part of the time; those exercises are focused on faster recovery, helping kids play and walk without any problem.

➔ Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Children with DCD struggle even with basic tasks such as writing, running, or dressing. To help them, therapists can include games and exercises in their sessions to help these little angels improve their balance, coordination, and motor skills. This is a playful and inspiring method to help them move better, gain confidence, and manage everyday tasks more easily.

Treatment Approaches They Use

Pediatric physiotherapists use a variety of specialised techniques to support children with different impairments. Those treatment approaches are as follows:

➔ The Margaret Rood Technique: Uses superficial and deep stimulation to improve motor activity abilities.

➔ The Temple Fay Technique: Uses sequential developmental movement.

➔ Bobath Approach: Improves developmental Sequences, inhibition of abnormal patterns, and uses sensory stimulation to improve muscle response.

➔ Conductive Education Approach: This rigorous treatment model combines learning and therapy for kids.

➔ The Kabat—Knott—Voss Method: Using functional movement patterns to ease proprioceptive neuromuscular.

➔ The Doman-Delecto Technique: With repetitive movements, a doctor can cure the dormant central nervous system pathways of the brain.

➔ Urotherapy: Assists in treating bladder control issues in children. The core practices include pelvic floor muscle training, behavioural modification, neuromodulation, and lifestyle changes.

Final Words

For children with developmental, congenital, and acquired disorders, pediatric physiotherapy is one of the branches of physiotherapy that aims to treat or develop various issues while enhancing a child’s developmental stages.

In addition, a therapist works with families to set treatment goals like motion, strength, balance, posture, reflexes, and muscle tone to regain physical function in kids. However, this specialised form of therapy fosters independence and boosts self-esteem.