If you have a child with autism, you know your child has different sensory needs about social language in school and daily life. Autistic children typically have low muscle tone and require strengthening interventions to help them reach their goals. This is where the need for physical therapy comes in for your loved one’s development.
Why is Physical Therapy Important?
Children on the autism spectrum have trouble with sitting, running, jumping, walking, and other gross motor tasks. They also feel uncomfortable when faced with unfamiliar people, situations, and places. This is common for them to have pediatric physical, occupational, behavioral, or speech therapy to improve their various sensory and social skills.
A pediatric physical therapist will work with your child to help them improve muscle tone, balance, and other skills. Pediatric intensive physical therapy helps a child with autism develop skills essential for becoming more functional and independent and refine sensory and neuromotor skills.
See the children with ASD, for example. They struggle with coordination and posture control and copying the actions of others. They tend to have difficulty with developing proper gross motor skills for their age and may need help learning how to crawl, roll over, sit up, walk, run, climb, and such age-appropriate skills.
Physical therapists (PTs) are movement specialists. They help these children develop their gross motor skills and basic movement skills. They are taken through the learning process to play games, sports, and take part in physical education with their peers. The entire objective of intensive pediatric physical therapy is to help children with autism gain their full potential.
Traditional Physical Therapy vs. Intensive Physical Therapy
Traditional physical therapy begins with swim therapy along with hippotherapy. Intensive physical therapy begins by encouraging the child to walk with forearm crutches. Intensive therapy differs from traditional physical therapy because you can progress or maximize an individual’s potential enormously by working with them for concentrated periods of time. This enhances strength and improves mobility in children with gross motor disabilities.
How is a Physical Therapy Plan Developed?
Physical therapists at our Hope Abilitation Medical center in Dubai work with the parents or the families of the children to develop intensive pediatric physical therapy strategies to help the children build important skills, such as grooming ( combing hair, brushing teeth, etc.), feeding (using napkins properly and using utensils properly) and dressing independently, as well as improving fine motor skills, social skills, and visual perception skills.
Ready to Get Your Child Started on a Pediatric Physical Therapy Treatment Plan?
Sessions with a physical therapist at our Hope AMC medical and rehabilitation facility in Dubai are safe, friendly, and encouraging. Our physical therapists ensure you must feel supported in so many ways, which is why one-on-one therapy sessions, group sessions, etc. are provided. Our intensive pediatric physical therapy programs can help your child develop to their fullest potential.
Want to schedule an appointment for an evaluation or begin therapy for your child on the autism spectrum? Contact our office today to get the process started.
Can Physical Therapy Cure Life-Long Pain?
Physical pain is a common experience that everyone has dealt with in some way or another. For some people, pain is a chronic and lifelong condition that can greatly impact their quality of life. A variety of factors, such as genetics, injuries, and age, can cause pain.