The Importance of Playground Play by Jeanette Mangano, DPT Kids Place West Pediatric Physical Therapist The playground is an exciting place for most children that is crucial to the development of social, fine motor, and gross motor skills. In addition to promoting an active lifestyle, children will also learn and develop many skills needed to…
Is My Child Healthy? By Kelsie Noel, DPT Kids Place West Pediatric Physical Therapist America has a growing problem of young children becoming overweight and obese. Recent statistics have placed Arizona as having the fourth highest obesity rate in the country. In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were diagnosed as overweight…
Save the Spiders Game by Nicole Campbell, PT, DPT Kids Place West Pediatric Physical Therapist Want a fun, balance activity for the fall season? Create a spider web on the ground using tape and place plastic spiders around the edge of the web. Have your child pretend they are the parent spider and they must…
Using the Hula Hoop for Indoor Activities By Teri Roberts, DPT, PCS AZOPT Kids Place Owner and Pediatric Physical Therapist As a pediatric physical therapist, I am always looking for inexpensive and fun, yet safe activities to perform indoors. One that I would like to share is playing with a basic hula-hoop. Of course, your 2-5…
How Does the Vestibular System Affect My Child? By Brittany deRoche, DPT Kids Place West Pediatric Physical Therapist The vestibular system is a small group of organs located in our inner ear which is responsible for helping our body figure out where it is in space. The vestibular system detects movement (linear and angular) of…
Say Goodbye to Positioning Devices By Nicole Campbell, PT, DPT & Bobbi Michels, PT, DPT Kids Place West Pediatric Physical Therapists As a new parent, you will see many different positioning devices as you walk through the baby department of a store. Exersaucers, Jumperoos, Bumbo Chairs, and similar positioning devices are marketed as strengthening devices…
What is Torticollis? By Andy Albrecht, DPT Kids Place Central Clinic Manager and Pediatric Physical Therapist Torticollis is a term used to describe a tight neck muscle. Congenital Muscular Torticollis occurs when a neck muscle, often involved is the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), is tight or shortened. This presents with a position of one ear towards the…
Ask The Therapists By Kelsie Noel, DPT & Brittany deRoche, PT, DPT Kids Place Pediatric Physical Therapists Q: My child is walking on her toe, should I receive therapy? The concern is not whether you child is toe walking, but whether your child toe walks more than 50% of the time. Toe walking is a…
Couch Potato Children – Tips to Get Them to be Physically and Mentally Active By Bobbi Michels, DPT Kids Place West Physical Therapist It’s a Saturday morning, and already we can hear the kids: “Mom, it’s my turn to play on the computer!” “Can I watch T.V?” “No, I want to play an X-box game!”…
The Benefits of Co-Treating By Amanda Bruce, MS, OTR/L and Stacy Taylor, MS, CCC-SLP Kids Place Pediatric Therapists Many parents new to pediatric therapy are unfamiliar with the term “co-treat.” Short for co-treatment, this refers to two different therapy disciplines working with one child at the same time. For example, your child may receive treatment…
