Adaptive Sports for Children with Disabilities By Khristian Morrell, Student Physical Therapist Obesity across our nation has become an alarming health risk over the past generation. Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities are at a particularly higher risk for this, as they are less likely to participate in organized sports and activities. In addition to decreased participation,…
Activities to Assist Your Child with Buttoning by Sarah Koppenhoefer-Little, OTR/L Kids Place West Pediatric Occupational Therapist The ability to button and manipulate clothing fasteners is a significant self-care skill most parents want their child to learn. This is an important task children need to have independence with dressing. The typical child will learn to…
Foam Rolling 101 Chances are you have seen someone recently laying and rolling around on a cylindrical shaped piece of foam. Whether at the gym, CrossFit, or even AZOPT, foam rolling has become an extremely popular and effective self-massage technique. To understand why, let’s first discuss the basic structure of our muscles and tissues. Our…
Understanding Speech Sound Disorders Kids Place West Speech Language Pathologists Speech sound disorders are what the pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist is most well-known for treating. There is the classic case of a child who says “wabbit” instead of rabbit,” or the child who lisps. But what exactly are speech sound disorders? Let’s talk about the basics…
Squatting Technique Is Everything by Brooke Smith, DPT AZOPT Goodyear Clinic Manager Have you ever wanted to increase strength and tone your gluts and legs? If so, squatting is one of the core exercises most fitness instructors will recommend. Not only does squatting increase muscle mass but resistance strength training will improve your body’s ability…
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…
Case Study: Minimally Invasive Muscle Sparing Patient Specific Total Knee Replacement By Brooke Smith, PT, DPT AZOPT Goodyear Physical Therapist Recently, I had the opportunity to observe a total knee replacement surgery performed by Dr. Brandon Gough, MD, of Hedley Orthopaedic Institute. Dr. Gough performs a newer procedure that is less invasive with a shorter…
Which Hand Will My Child Use? by Kids Place Occupational Therapists Are you a righty or a lefty? 9 out of 10 of you will be right handed while one of you is either left handed or ambidextrous. Your dominant hand is determined in utero, but it takes several years of motor learning and experience…
What is Frozen Shoulder? Like back pain, shoulder pain can be caused by many things — stress, exercise (or the lack thereof), working in the same position for a long period of time. But if you have chronic shoulder pain and stiffness, as well as limited movement in your shoulder joint, especially over a longer…
Parentese: What Is It and Why You Should Do It By Nicole Overy, MS, CFY-SLP Kids Place West Speech-Language Pathologist When you talk to a baby, you’ll likely use a high-pitched voice, draw out your vowels, and speak with a musical prosody. You’ll probably face the baby directly and use exaggerated facial expressions. This way…
