Increasing people are talking about brain injuries and disorders, for everything from football concussions to soldiers returning from the battlefield. The focus is fabulous, and now new techniques are becoming available that may help people recover. One new method is known as Neurodevelopmental Therapy (or NDT). This can be used in a variety of therapeutic disciplines, including therapy for kids with disabilities.
At its core, Neurodevelopmental Therapy is a way to look at issues on a targeted, individual level. Pediatric physical therapists use hands-on treatments and the latest machines to guide patients through tasks. For example, imagine a kid with neurological problems who is unable to stand due to the health problem might choose a series of little goals. One could be moving the feet and balancing using the patient's own strength. The pediatric physical therapist would help the patient hands-on.
Neurodevelopmental Therapy is patient-driven, because each patient has set goals. For kids with disabilities, goals may be set by the parents. For adults dealing with injuries or stroke, the goal could involve walking, standing and more. Some of the best physical therapists who ise these methods say that each patient's perception of treatment can make all the difference.
Besides the fact that sessions are encouraging, Neurodevelopmental Therapy truly gets real, powerful results. People treated with it need fewer assistive devices and less adaptive equipment while achieving an improvement in proper positioning. Gains can be made in speech, eating, movement and other occupational therapy tasks.
For kids with special needs, pediatric physical therapists can use Neurodevelopmental Therapy to help with things that will make these children less reliant on others for care. This can include learning to support oneself, climb stairs, or even stand up without help. The best pediatric physical therapists believe that some improvement is realistic for almost everyone, even if they have been diagnosed with lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy.
The research about Neurodevelopmental Therapy isn't very extensive, but the subject isn't controversial. Many of the research papers were about just a few patients, so aren't widely generalizable. But the ideas are pretty commonsense and a growing number of pediatric physical therapists and other specialists have adopted its techniques.
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