Physical Therapy for Developmental Delay in Children

Physical Therapy is an Ideal Choice for Developmental Delay in Children

If your child is suffering from developmental delays, you may want to consider physical therapy. According to medical doctors, child developmental specialists, and parents, physical therapy is considered to be an ideal choice for helping developmental delay in children.

The therapies offered in this medical specialization are designed to meet the needs of each child’s needs. The goal is to teach a child how to properly and successfully navigate their environment and perform tasks that children of the same age group are able to perform.

If you would like to learn more about how physical therapy could, potentially, help a child of yours that suffers from a developmental delay, continue reading.

What Will a Physical Therapist do to Help?
If you take your child to a physical therapist for help with developmental delays, an evaluation will be the first step taken. During the evaluation, the therapist will talk to you and your child. The professional will then provide tasks to the child to determine their weaknesses and their strengths.

If a delay is confirmed, the therapist will work with you to offer tips for the routines that the family engages in and the environment in order to aid in building the developmental skills of the child. Once education is provided to the family on how to aid in reaching developmental milestones, the therapist will work closely with the family to develop various exercises, experiences, and therapies that will benefit both the child and those that reside with the child.

Stimulation Offered by Physical Therapy
When a physical therapist works with a child that is experiencing developmental delays, they work to offer a high level of stimulation to the following:

• The nerves that work together in order to produce a movement. These are often referred to as the “neural centers”.
• The system that is identified as “vestibular”. This is a special sensory-based system that aids in the control of balance and the coordination that is involved in the movements of the body.
• The centers of the body that consists of bundles of tissues that help a person know where they are in terms of air space. These are referred to as “proprioceptive centers”.
• The organs that are responsible for sensory-based experiences. These include the nose, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, and the skin.
• The muscles throughout the body.

Physical therapists have the unique capability of helping with many developmental delays in children. Examples include – but, are not at all limited to – hypotonia, toe-walking, congenital muscle issues, balance and coordination problems, down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and other types of genetic syndromes.

Before reaching out to a physical therapist, you should talk to a pediatrician about the developmental concerns that you have with your child. In some instances, developmental delay in children may be a result of an underlying medical condition that needs to be dealt with. Once your pediatrician has determined the underlying cause of the developmental issues, they will likely provide you with a referral to a physical therapist.