IC26: Optimizing Pediatric NeuroRecovery: Benefits of Early Intervention and Activity-Based Therapy

Saturday, September 25, 2021

10:00 AM – 6:30 PM ET

Presenter(s)

Rebecca Martin, OTR/L, OTD

Assistant Professor
Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland

Presentation Slides
Andrea L. Behrman, PhD, PT, FAPTA

Professor
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

Handouts
Jianhua Wu, PhD

Associate Professor
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia

Presentation Slides
Harald Schubert

CEO
Novotec Medical GmbH
Pforzheim, Baden-Wurttemberg

Presentation Slides
Dagmar Siebold

Head and owner physiotherapy practice
Pratice for neuro-rehabilitation Siebold
berlin, Berlin

Presentation Slides
Mary B. Pengelley, PT, DPT, ATP

Physical Therapis, Assistive Technology Practitioner, Rehab Director
Progressive Pediatric Therapy, Inc
West Palm Beach, Florida

Presentation Slides Handouts

Evidence demonstrates that activity is essential for development and repair of the central nervous system, yet traditional rehabilitation approaches lack the intensity necessary to drive neural change. Activity-Based Therapy (ABT) represents an evolving shift in neurorehabilitation. Based on activity-dependent plasticity, ABT offers high intensity activation of the nervous system to optimize the capacity for recovery.

In this course, past clinical assumptions will be compared to recent scientific evidence guiding development of ABT. We will describe activity-based interventions and strategies, including mechano-stimulation, functional electrical stimulation, massed practice, and task specific training. Mechano-stimulation will be emphasized as a tool in early intervention and emergent assessment tools with sufficient sensitivity to measure change in the very young patient will be discussed.

Using lecture and case studies we will review current research trends, prescriptive diagnostics, physiology and pathophysiology, parameter selection and curation of treatment goals.

Learning Objectives:

List indications for the use of mechanostimulation in an ABT program.
Define the benefits of mechanostimulation on the developing and recovering nervous system.
Identify sensitive tools for measurement of change in the developing and recovering nervous system.