Teaching Motor Skills to Children with Cerebral Palsy & Similar Movement Disorders

Written by an experienced physical therapist, this practical guide gives parents the keys they need to help their child with cerebral palsy or another developmental delay master gross motor skills beginning in infancy. Organised in the sequence children acquire gross motor skills, this guide explains how motor development unfolds, and how cerebral palsy can affect this development. There are dozens of illustrated exercises that can help children gradually strengthen back, neck and tummy muscles and then master motor skills, such as head control, sitting, crawling, standing, and walking. While parents can and should practice these exercises at home, the author stresses how success is dependent on parents and therapist working together. Real-life vignettes provide examples of how parents, children, and physical therapists interact, what difficulties can arise and how to try and work through them.