Conditions Treated

Children referred for pediatric therapy typically have conditions related to the following:

• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Autism
• Balance/Coordination Problems
• Brain Injury
• Cerebral Palsy
• Developmental Disabilities
• Muscle Tone Imbalance
• Speech and Language Problems
• Swallowing or Feeding Problems

Definitions of Common Conditions

Autism

Autism is one of five disorders coming under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), a category of neurological disorders characterized by "severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development," including social interaction and communications skills (DSM-IV-TR).

The five disorders under PDD are:

• Autistic Disorder
• Asperger's Disorder
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
• Rett's Disorder
• PDD-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)

Each of these disorders has specific diagnostic criteria as outlined by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in its Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR).

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development; before, during, or shortly after birth; or during infancy. Thus, these disorders are not caused by problems in the muscles or nerves. Instead, faulty development or damage to motor areas in the brain disrupt the brain's ability to adequately control movement and posture.

"Cerebral" refers to the brain and "palsy" to muscle weakness/poor control. Cerebral palsy itself is not progressive (i.e. brain damage does not get worse); however, secondary conditions, such as muscle spasticity, can develop which may get better over time, get worse, or remain the same. Cerebral palsy is not communicable. It is not a disease and should not be referred to as such. Although cerebral palsy is not "curable" in the accepted sense, training and therapy can help improve function.

Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is usually caused by an error in cell division called non-disjunction. However, two other types of chromosomal abnormalities, mosaicism and translocation, are also implicated in Down syndrome - although to a much lesser extent.

Regardless of the type of Down syndrome which a person may have, all people with Down syndrome have an extra, critical portion of the number 21 chromosome present in all, or some, of their cells. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with the syndrome.

Brachial Plexus Injury

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that control the muscles of the shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand and fingers. Injury to nerves of the brachial plexus can result in full to partial paralysis of one or both arms (bilateral brachial plexus injury).

Possible symptoms of a brachial plexus injury include:

• A limp or paralyzed arm
• Lack of muscle control in the arm or hand

Other terms commonly used to describe brachial plexus injuries include:

• Erb's Palsy (upper trunk injury)
• Klumpke's Palsy (lower trunk injury)
• Brachial Plexus Palsy
• Erb-Duchenne Palsy
• Horner's Syndrome (when facial nerves are also affected)
• "Burners" or "Stingers" (usually associated with sports-related brachial plexus injuries)
• Torticollis is another term sometimes used in conjunction with brachial plexus injuries

Torticollis

Torticollis is a Latin term that means "twisted neck" and refers only to the posture of the head and neck. The term torticollis is used to identify a symptom, not a disease or injury. While there are many possible causes of torticollis, for the majority of infants the head tilt is caused by an injury or tightness to a major neck muscle called the sternocleidomastoid muscle.

6/16/2008