Physical Therapy for DS

[Anonymous]

Hi. I have a son with Down Syndrome. He is 12 months and still not crawling. Although he does get physical therapy weekly from infants and toddlers and I think they are great, I'm wondering if I should look into additional therapy to see if that gets him moving. He is in day care and already far behind all the other kids in his class. I know this is to be expected, but I am trying my hardest to keep him as integrated as possible. Has anyone had luck with a therapist and can send some names?

[Anonymous]

Where do you live, OP?

[Anonymous]

Crawling can be really tough for children with Ds. Some just skip it. Do you have exercises and techniques from Infants and Toddlers to work on at home or at daycare? I found the Patricia Winders book, "Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome" was really useful when we were working on early gross motor skills. I don't think my daughter with Ds started crawling much earlier than 12 months, but she walked at about 21 months and hasn't stopped since! Core strength is really important for crawling so lots of "tummy time" type exercises and "airplane" holds can really help.

If you don't feel you are getting the work you need from Infants and Toddlers, you could supplement with private PT. We did and it has helped a lot, but our PT through Infants and Toddlers had very low expectations and a bad attitude so I knew that wasn't going to work.

[Anonymous]

I live in MoCo and do have Patricia Winders book. I am just not having much luck with manuvering him myself and the PT seems to be the only one to be able to get him to move. Of course would love her everyday, but we only get once a week. He can push himself up into sitting from tummy now, so staying on tummy time doesn't really work. Do you think supplementing would help?

[Anonymous]

Have the PT teach you what she is doing--that's part of the educational model that most Infant and Toddler programs follow. Practise with him/her and try to repeat during the week. If your insurance will cover private PT, it won't hurt but since that is only 1-2 hours out of a whole week, you or other caregivers need to be working on exercises during playtime the rest of the week.

[Anonymous]

Becky Leonard at Early Intervention Associates is excellent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Becky Leonard at Early Intervention Associates is excellent

This!

[Anonymous]

My son has severe gross motor delays. We decided to supplement MoCo EI with private. We see Connie Sullivan at Pediatric Therapy Associates in Wheaton MD. She's wonderful.

[Anonymous]

you need an occupational therapist, not a pt, for optimal intervention.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a developmental pediatrician? I have found them to be goldmines when it comes to referrals for good interventionists. Our geneticist was awesome too and only recommends people who he knows are really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has severe gross motor delays. We decided to supplement MoCo EI with private. We see Connie Sullivan at Pediatric Therapy Associates in Wheaton MD. She's wonderful.

You see her privately? We saw her under MoCo, EI and she was always late and disorganized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have the PT teach you what she is doing--that's part of the educational model that most Infant and Toddler programs follow. Practise with him/her and try to repeat during the week. If your insurance will cover private PT, it won't hurt but since that is only 1-2 hours out of a whole week, you or other caregivers need to be working on exercises during playtime the rest of the week.

I agree. My DS has other developmental issues but wasn't crawling either. It took me a while to get the hang of things but it made a big difference. FWIW, DS never did crawl. He was delayed in walking but did so @ 18 mos with assistance.

[Anonymous]

Is there a reason that a 2011 thread has been revived?