What does a pediatric physical therapist do?

The Gist

Gross motor delays can affect long term physical development (even if your child learns to walk eventually)
A Pediatric Physical Therapist teaches skills that improve physical stability and confidence in children

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If you’ve sprained your ankle running or twisted your shoulder working out or tweaked your back picking up that heavy box when you shouldn’t have, you may have seen a Physical Therapist (PT) during recovery. Chances are they gave you some exercises, maybe some massage and you were good to go. That’s the REhabilitative side of things: where a PT helps you recover muscle function that you’ve lost.

In the case of pediatrics, things are a little different, because we are talking about habilitative work: teaching new skills to kids who haven’t learned them yet.

When we’re talking about PT, we are usually talking about big muscles -- Gross Motor function and development: arms, legs, trunk, neck. These muscles provide the base of support for all other movements, including jaw, lip and tongue movements that we use when we talk.

So, if we don’t have good trunk stability, we will never have clear speech. Trunk stability is a very big deal. (It turns out it really is all about your core muscles).

Some kids are born with a genetic condition that comes with gross motor delays, and some kids come with a gross motor system that just isn’t wired “quite right” for reasons we don’t understand.

Either way, when muscles are not developing or working together the way they should, things like sitting up, moving around and walking are difficult for our kids.

But it can look like laziness: like they just don’t “want” to walk.

It can look like “bad behavior”: like they’re whining at you to carry them up the stairs because they’re spoiled.

It can look like defiance: like the reason they don’t want to sit on the potty is because they’re just trying to make you mad (and poor by buying more diapers).

But there’s a different reason that might be tripping them up:

their core muscles might not be strong enough to hold themselves up efficiently.

And so -- because they already know they’ll fall down -- they don’t try to walk.

Because they already know they won’t make it up the stairs, they beg you to carry them.

Because they are afraid they will fall off the potty, they refuse to sit down at all.

If your child looks like they are refusing to learn new gross motor skills, chances are that’s because the skills are too hard for them to manage right now.

But here’s the other part of that: even if your child eventually “pushes through” the wall and learns to walk, for example, they might be doing so in a “neurologically inefficient” way. They might be thinking “too much” about it, which leaves less capacity to - to take a well-worn image - walk and chew gum at the same time.

A Pediatric Physical Therapist can help your child learn to walk in a way that supports safety AND efficiency. That ensures that they are stable and can move through space the way they want and need to.

PTs also help children who fall down a lot by helping with the protective response. This is the instinct and natural reaction to catch yourself when you start to fall: you put your hands out so that you don’t bonk your head. Without this reflex, we are at constant risk for head injuries and concussions.

If your child doesn’t put their hands out in front of their face when they start to fall, they might need to work with a PT to establish that protective response and avoid all those booboos.

These are just some of the things a physical therapist can help your child with. They can have a huge impact on development of muscles and building confidence in your little one to run and play and also reduce fear in parents.

Working with a Physical Therapist can be crucial to the development of kids with gross motor delays. PTs are not just for people who have had accidents or injuries!

Don’t hesitate to reach out to a pediatric Physical Therapist if you have any concerns with the development of your child’s muscles and motor skills.

All my best-

Gabriele

PS.

Raising Orchids 6-week class is back!

Starting September 16th, myself and the talented Jen Dryer are back at it. Join us while we help parents of neurodiverse children learn tools for improving the relationship with their children and exploring practical strategies for empowering your child to learn new skills, understanding difficult behaviors, supporting your child's independence and sense of confidence, planning for your child's success and troubleshooting difficult situations.

The hour long class runs Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:45 PM EST and runs from September 16th to October 21st.