Physiotherapy

Physical therapy or physiotherapy (often abbreviated to PT) is provided at KidsAbility by a regulated health care professional, licensed with the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario. 

At KidsAbility, many of the children we see have difficulty with learning how to move i.e. crawling, cruising, walking and running. For these children, mobility is a challenge. Not only does it impact their daily function, it also impacts their ability to engage and participate in gross motor play with their friends and family. Working with our physiotherapists, children learn to optimize their movement and gross motor abilities to maximize their participation in areas that are important to them and their families. Physiotherapists work collaboratively with families/youth on learning strategies that maximize their function to develop increased independence outside of therapy sessions.  

Physiotherapists* at KidsAbility work across all of our sites as an integral part of many teams such as:

• SPOT
• ESS

Physiotherapy can help with the following challenges and therapy goals:

• Addressing muscle difficulties related to limited movement/ strength/endurance
• "Physical" difficulties resulting in poor balance & co-ordination (i.e. lack of trunk control versus lack of attending to the environment).
• Collaborative goal-making to assist clients and families in understanding the steps needed to achieve their goals. Physiotherapists work closely with family members and other care providers in addition to the client.
• Educating on how to incorporate strategies that maximize the client's function and foster independence outside of physiotherapy sessions both in the home and in community settings.
• Specifically, physiotherapy looks at the client’s current gross motor skills and how to functionally progress them by addressing:
• Range of motion impairments through educating, designing and teaching home based positioning and stretching programs
• Muscular strength and endurance impairments to help optimize function, alignment and posture
• Balance and coordination impairments
  
  
  

 For more information on Physiotherapy:

• College of Physiotherapist of Ontario
• Ontario Physiotherapy Association
• Canadian Physiotherapy Association

*Physiotherapist and related words are official marks used with permission by registered physiotherapists.