6 Important Reasons We Play Games Together at Kids Place Pediatric Therapy Parents often ask us why we will place two children together during a therapy session to play a game. This is a great question that has an even better answer! When two children are playing together, we are able to build several social…
2 Reasons You May Be Experiencing Unexplained Pain By Cassidy Cooney, PT, DPT AzOPT Buckeye Physical Therapist I often hear the question – “what caused this?” – when chatting with my patients about their unexplained pain. Unless there was a specific moment or injury that preceded the symptoms, the reality is we are often unable…
Why Is Play Important for Child Development? We often hear parents ask, “What can I do with my child to help him or her grow and develop?” Now, if someone came to you and said, “Just play with your child” would you believe them? What Is Play? According to the American Occupational Therapy Association (2008),…
Addressing Knee Pain by Brooke Smith, PT, DPT AzOPT Clinical Co-Director The knee is a very mobile structure that relies on surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments as well as the joints above and below to provide stability. When those joints are not working properly – that is to say they are either not as flexible…
At Kids Place, our highly skilled speech-language pathologists (SLPs) specialize in treating a variety of speech and language deficits, including expressive and receptive language delays, articulation disorders, and phonological processing challenges. But did you know our team is also trained to evaluate and treat pediatric feeding disorders? What Is a Pediatric Feeding Disorder? A pediatric…
What Can You Do About Nagging Heel Pain? by Drew Satterfield, PT, DPT AzOPT Gilbert Clinic Manager Heel pain is one of the more aggravating injuries for those of us who are on their feet for most of the day. At its worst, it prevents us from accomplishing our tasks throughout the day and keeps…
12 Effective Tips to Teach Your Child to Dress Themselves Dressing skills are a vital part of child development. Not only does learning to dress themselves help support children’s growing independence, but it also promotes the development of many other valuable skills including, but not limited to sequencing, motor coordination, balance, bilateral coordination, dexterity, attention,…
11 Practical Water Safety Tips for Kids It is about that time of year again when the temperatures outside are blazing hot in Arizona! In Arizona, this is the time of year temperatures begin to blaze and many families “escape the heat” by engaging in water play or swimming activities in pools, lakes, or local…
Benefits of Cardio Fitness for Children with Cerebral Palsy by Danielle Burke, PT, DPT Kids Place West Doctor of Physical Therapy Cerebral palsy is a complex neurological disorder affecting approximately 1.5 to 3.8 children per 1,000 births. Children diagnosed with cerebral palsy often present with developmental delays as a result of muscle weakness, impaired balance,…
How can you teach your child to tie shoes? Tying shoes is a complex self-care tasks that requires adequate visual motor skills, fine motor-coordination, task sequencing, and motor planning. Most kids learn to tie their shoes around age 6, but this can take longer due to the complexity of the task as well as environmental…
