Therapy for Infants & Children Who Have Cerebral Palsy & Other Gross Motor Disorders Resulting From Prematurity
Prematurity in infants is only one of the risk factors associated with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
“Cerebral palsy is not a disorder with a single cause, like chicken pox or measles. It is a group of disorders with similar problems in control of movement, but probably with a variety of causes. A large number of factors, which can injure the developing brain, may produce cerebral palsy…Risk factors for cerebral palsy include the following: premature birth; low birth weight; inability of the placenta to provide the developing fetus with oxygen and nutrients; lack of growth factors during intra-uterine life; RH or A-B-O blood type incompatibility between mother and infant; infection of the mother with German measles or other viral diseases in early pregnancy; bacterial infection of the mother, fetus or infant that directly or indirectly attack the infant's central nervous system; prolonged loss of oxygen during the birthing process and severe jaundice shortly after birth.”
(United Cerebral Palsy website, www.ucp.org)
What type of therapy can be helpful to prematurely-born children exhibiting signs of a gross motor disorder?
Physical Therapy is often prescribed for children who have gross motor disorders, including Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Down Syndrome, or other neuromuscular disorders. The “Intensive Physical Therapy” model, which was originally inspired by Eastern European methods pioneered in the 1970’s, has been emerging in North America as an effective way to create functional skills in children who have non-progressive neuromuscular disorders. Euro-Peds® National Center for Intensive Pediatric PT out of Doctors’ Hospital of Michigan in Pontiac, Michigan, was the first hospital to introduce Intensive Pediatric Physical Therapy to the U.S. Since opening in 1999, Euro-Peds® has treated over 900 children from virtually every U.S. state, Canada, Portugal and Jamaica.
For more information or an application, go to www.europeds.org or call 1-248-857-6776.
