More and more notice is going toward brain issues, for everything from football to soldiers returning from the battlefield. The attention is great, and now novel methods are being discussed that may help victims. One new method is known as NDT (Neurodevelopmental Therapy). This can be used in many kinds of therapy, including therapy for children with special needs.
Basically, NDT is a way to look at issues on a targeted, individual level. Physical therapists use hands-on treatments and the latest tools to guide patients through tasks. For example, consider the case of a girl with disabilities who is unable to walk due to the health problem might set incremental goals. One might be moving the feet from the footrest on a wheelchair using the patient's own muscles. In this case, the pediatric physical therapist would help the patient by touch throughout.
A particularly important part of this NDT method is patient goal-setting. For kids with disabilities, goals may be set by the parents. For adults dealing with problems such as TBI and stroke, the goal could be about balance. Some of the best physical therapists who try these methods say that a patient's perception of treatment can make all the difference.
Besides feeling like it's working, NDT truly works. People treated with it need less help and fewer devices and find it easier to get to proper positioning. Improvement is possible in speech, eating, movement and other occupational therapy tasks.
For kids with disabilities, pediatric physical therapists can use NDT to help with things that will make these individuals less reliant on others. They can learn to support themselves, maneuver stairs, or even crawl or stand. Practitioners of this method believe that some improvement is realistic for almost any patient, even if they have been diagnosed with lifelong conditions such as cerebral palsy.
The research about NDT isn't very thorough, but the subject isn't hotly contested, either. 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 children and other specialists are starting to use it.
If you need help with speech, eating and mobility, consider finding a autism symptoms in toddlers San Diego CA expert in your area.