ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Playing—it’s a rite of passage for children. But not all children get to enjoy a playground, birthday party or recess. Kids born with complex disabilities like cerebral palsy or down syndrome are often left out or their disability makes them unable to participate. Ivanhoe has the details on a new program making a difference.
Like every child, four-year-old Marlie Ellison loves to play, but … “Marlie has seizures every day.” Says Damianna Quinones, Marlie’s mom.
Marlie was born a micro-preemie. Damianna says, “She was only a pound and a half.”
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Marlie goes to therapy nine times a week. But one therapy is different from all the rest.
Marlie is part of an innovative program that uses play to help develop communication and motor skills.
Jennifer Tucker, PT, DPT, PhD, Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapist at the University of Central Florida says, “What we know is that all children have a desire to play, but they need to access that play differently.”
Pediatric Physical Therapists and Speech Therapists work together to help children with complex disabilities reach their full potential.
Julie Feuerstein, PhD, CCC-SLP, Pediatric Speech Pathologist at University of Central Florida says, “So as my colleague is working on positioning and seating and mobility and I’m working on communication, the child is getting the benefit of all of those kinds of approaches at once, which is the way that development occurs.”
Helping children like Marlie express themselves.
“Marlie’s really good at using her facial expressions, her body movements, her gestures to communicate with her environment and with the people and her peers,” says Julie Feuerstein, PhD.
“I think what we’ve seen with her is really increased engagement with her peers, increased engagement with us.” explains Jennifer Tucker, PT, DPT, PhD.
Damianna Quinones, Marlie’s mom says, “It’s hard to find moments where I can see, oh, Marlie actually enjoys that, but I do see that here.”
Seeing progress through play.
The Mighty Knights program at UCF tries to find multiple ways for children with complex disabilities to learn to communicate. That can be with their eyes, through utilizing buttons and switches or just through their smile. Each child is different, but once a child finds a way to communicate, they believe it’s the first step to really giving that child control and the ability to engage with others.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor.
Sources:
Julie Feuerstein – UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences
Jennifer Tucker – UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences
LEARNING WITH MARLIE: WHEN PLAY BECOMES PROGRESS
REPORT #3109
BACKGROUND: Approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, or around one billion people, have some form of disability, whether present at birth or acquired later in life. And nearly 240 million of them are children. The definition of living with a disability is having a long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment that, in interaction with the environment, hinders one’s participation in society on an equal basis with others. Children and adolescents with complex disabilities live in every community, and are born with or acquire distinct impairments that, in relation to their surroundings, lead to functional difficulties like seeing, walking, communicating, caring for oneself, or making friends. But the extent to which children with disabilities can function, participate in society, and lead fulfilling lives depends on the extent to which they are accommodated and included.
(Source: https://www.unicef.org/disabilities)
DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION: Children with complex disabilities deal with a range of barriers that limits their ability to function in daily life, access social services (like education and health care) and engage in their communities. These types of barriers can include physical barriers like buildings, transportation, toilets, and playgrounds that cannot be accessed by wheelchair users; communication and information barriers such as textbooks unavailable in Braille, or public health announcements delivered without sign language interpretation; and attitudinal barriers like stereotyping, low expectations, pity, condescension, harassment, and bullying. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) obligates Governments to take concrete measures to promote their full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Children with disabilities remain largely invisible in research and programs meant to build more equitable, inclusive societies.
(Source: https://www.unicef.org/disabilities)
NEW STUDIES IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY: Kathleen Friel, MD, and other researchers at the Burke Neurological Institute (BNI), in collaboration with Andrew Gordon, MD, of the Center for Cerebral Palsy Research at the Teachers College-Columbia University, are changing the lives of children living with cerebral palsy through innovative therapies that are test-driven in clinical trials. One study looked at intensive hand and arm training therapies that showed improvements in hand and arm function, allowing children with CP to learn new, long-term life skills. “People with CP need more effective therapies at all stages of life. In my lab, we strive to better understand how the nervous system controls movement in people with CP and build effective rehabilitation strategies from that knowledge,” said Dr. Kathleen Friel. The research team set out to explore if hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (HABIT) combined with a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve impaired upper extremity muscles and motor function. This study is helping to change the minds of scientists and physicians and represents a breakthrough that is advancing future treatments for CP.
* For More Information, Contact:
Heather Lovett
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