whats the difference between a pediatric physical therapist and a pediatric occupational therapist?
971404
Physical Therapy focuses on the lower extremities\nOccupational Therapy focuses on the upper extremities\n\nPT focuses on gait, walking, mobility\nOT focuses on dexterity of your hands to perform everyday tasks like cooking, hygeine, etc.\n\nYour Major would be Physical or Occupational Therapy with emphasis in pediatrics.
978124
During our youth, age birth to five mostly, our minds are making connections from the information we take in.  The more times we are exposed to the same item, the stronger the connection will be.  Once this connections are made they are hard to break.  However, they can be broken by not using them, or a medical injury.  This is why stroke victims usually need physical therapy after they have had a stroke, the connections were broken.  And the older we are the more times you need to repeat, to make a new track for the connection, hence learning the skill again.  \n  The more we teach are children early in life, the more skills they will have to take care of us in our old age.  The children are the future!!!
258405
I took 1 year of a 3 year course in Canada, it was really intense and hard, but worth it... I didn't finish at the time because my son was only 2 years old, and demanding more and more of my time...  anyhow back on track!  Massage Therapy is a field with many many possibilities, from sports therapy, to spas... I would ask you parents to consider the possibility (among others) and then go with them to a collage open house, where you can meet with the instructors and get all of you/you parents questions asked... If you are serious about this career path, you parents will see that and come around! if worse comes to worse you can always take some time off between courses and work to save up for your tuition! Good luck in your endeavors... if you have any more questions e-mail me: hugh0076@yahoo.com
1160006
My Doc told us if we hadn't started PT when we did, (7 months) our son would not be walking, talking, and getting ready to start all-inclusive Kindergarten in September.  Like I said, he started at 7 mos, and is now 5 years old.  We have gone to PT 1-2 times per week for over 4 years now, and I truly believe he would not be as mobile if we had just let him lay in a bed and allow his muscles to get tighter.  If you do not have PT, your son may have tendon shortening, which causes even more tip-toes and in the future he may need surgery for it.  \n\nFrom what you describe, our experiences are very similar.  At 5 months, my son was nowhere near sitting up, he was drooling a lot, and he spit up every time he was fed.  He was also very irritable, but we found out it was a milk allergy causing all the crying.\n\nI am confused with the "normal MRI".  CP is caused from lack of oxygen to the brain, which in turn causes the damage, which shows up in the MRI.  Was he sedated for the MRI?  My son had his MRI at 13 months, but the Ped. Neuro. said the damage would show no matter what age the MRI was done.  He said it will never get better or worse, with respect to the test results, not your child's motor skills.  \n\nYou can never go wrong with PT, it cannot do any damage, and it will only help your son.  It will be worth it in the long run.  Sometimes I see older kids with CP that are mobile, but have a fisted hand, or a severe limp, and I wonder if they had Physical Therapy.  Please do this for your child.  I hope you have a Pediatric PT in your area, we drive 4 hours round trip for ours.  We have a Pediatric Feldenkrais PT and she has done wonders for our son, in my opinion it's better than traditional PT for our child.  Go to www.feldenkrais.com to find a practitioner in your area and learn more about this type of PT.  Good luck!
1084137
Needless to say, occupational therapy is cathartic at its best.\n\nPeace be with you!
1048778
It's the standard 3-4 years undergrad (depending on how fast you go through your classes) and then you have to be accepted into a Physical Therapy graduate program which is another 3 years. Some PT programs offer a Master's while others offer a Doctorate.
556097
Go into some of the classes with your child. You and your child can tell them what it is like to be disabled and have a disabled child. I think everyone would be more aware of disabilities. Good luck.
132235
Well hopefully this child is getting occupational therapy and physical therapy to start off with.  If so, obviously they are the experts and you should ask them for home activities for your child.  As a special education teacher, I suggest you try isolating the objects you would like the child to grasp and then run trials.  Also, do alot of muscle toning activities such as using a squeeze ball etc.  But first and foremost, ask the therapists that are working with your child and if there isn't one, contact your school district asap to get services started.
57759
A PT is trained in the treatment and rehabilitation of many different patient populations (geriatrics, neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, burn therapy, pediatrics, etc.). PT is a medical specialty, and physical therapists are licensed and work with medical doctors orders for treatment protocols.\n\nAn Athletic trainer specializes in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. \n\nCheck out this description of the athletic treatment team, including a discussion of these two practitioners:\nhttp://www.athleteproject.com/members/medteam.htm\n\nHere is the athletic trainers professional group website: http://www.nata.org \n\nHere is the physical therapy professional organization webpage: http://www.apta.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
1019319
http://www.aota.org/nonmembers/area13/links/link29.asp\n\nalso:Educational Programs in Texas The first occupational therapy educational program was established in 1943 at Texas State College for Women, which later became Texas Woman s University. OT Programs\nhttp://www.tota.org/edprogs.html
589804
First of all, be yourself.  Kids can target in sincerity.  Second they're not cancer kids their kids with cancer.  Third, you might want to look at occupational therapy sites for appropriate activities and skills.
187645
This field includes physical therapists, counselors, and occupational therapists. Occupational therapists help people with conditions or disabilities improve in their daily lives.\n\nTraining is necessary to become an occupational therapist. This training can be received at a school, college, or university. In addition to a diploma or certification, a license may also be needed in some states.\n\nThe job outlook should be good. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), employment of occupational therapists is expected to increase through 2012. For more information, try the American Occupational Therapy Association website at www.aota.org.
937880
There are a very wide variety of treatment techniques employed by Physical Therapist (physiotherapist is synonymous with physical therapist, term used depends where you are).  Some PT's such as myself are very hands-on, manual therapy and exercise oriented while others are more passive and tend to use a lot of modalities such as heat, electrical stimulation, etc.  It isn't that I don't use those things but it is not the primary way I care for a patient.\nThere are hundreds of different treatments for the shoulders.  The ones chosen depends on the PT and your presentation.  Every patient is different so one treatment for a patient that has shoulder problems may be totally different from another with should problems.  \nWhen you go see a PT they should do a full examination (such things as testing strength, range of motion, flexibility, joint mobility, soft tissue mobility, assessment of posture and walking mechanics, assessment of your daily activities, etc - these are just some examples of the components of an examination).  They will then go over their findings with you and tell you how they are going to address them and may give you some examples of treatments that they are going to do.  I hope this helps and please feel free to ask if you have anymore questions.
308343
Yeah, I have a child in my class with it - it's normally found in kids and has to do with their co-ordination and movement. Dyspraxia is a difficulty with thinking out, planning and carrying out sensory / motor tasks. Children with dyspraxia can be of average or above average intelligence but are often behaviourally immature. They try hard to fit in to socially accepted behaviour when at school but often throw tantrums when at home. They may find it difficult to understand logic and reason.
271944
Check out http://www.developmentalpathways.com/index.html Developmental Pathways for Kids (DPK) partners with a private mainstream school, the students of which are used as "expert players" and paired with atypically developing kids.  A DPK therapist monitors the interaction, but tries to intervene as little as possible.  The "expert players" are given some training as to how to draw in the atypical kids into play.
964869
Physical therapists are experts in the analysis of gait.  Gait is basically the mechanics of your walking pattern.  Abnormal walking patterns, limping, etc can be quite complicated at times.  They can be from unequal leg lengths, bony/structural deformities, poor flexibility and/or strength, foot/ankle issues, poor posture, bad habits as well as issues with the cervical spine (neck), the ear, etc.  As you can see problems with walking and the mechanics of your walking pattern and a Physical Therapist (PT) would be the best one to evaluate this for you.  A PT would then be able to develop a treatment plan to address any findings that were found during your examination.
668231
Mostly physical therapy.