Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital

Your child will be asked to do activities to test his/ her functionally mobility skills, joint mobility, strength, coordination and balance.

You are encouraged to observe your child during the evaluation. If an area of weakness is found, suggestions for activities to begin at home to help your child will be given to you by the evaluator, and additional therapy sessions may be recommended.

A written report will be sent to you approximately two weeks after the evaluation is completed. If you have not received the report within two weeks of the evaluation, please contact the therapist who performed your evaluation or contact the ICD Records Coordinator at CALL 551-996- 5253 to request a copy of the report.

The goal of a physical therapist is to help people become as functionally independent as possible.  If your child is recommended for therapy at ICD after completing a PT evaluation, an individualized treatment plan and goals will be developed to address the area of concern.  The physical therapist will use a Neurodevelopmental Treatment Approach and other therapeutic exercises while incorporating toys and activities that are appropriate for the age of your child while helping to improve you child’s motor skills  Depending on your child’s needs, other modalities will be utilized for treatment including: Kinesiotaping, Physioball, Yoga and Pilates.  Most children enjoy the sessions and look forward to coming to therapy.

At ICD we focus on educating families and caregivers to carry over the treatment techniques at home in order for your child to make the most improvement in their areas of weakness.  Home programs are provided to families and caregivers either verbally or through written materials. We have found that when families and caregivers carry over suggestions and recommendations, it optimizes progress and independence.

The parent or caregiver in encouraged to work closely with the therapist during the therapy sessions and to assist your child with daily home exercise programs.  If the child is older and/or is distracted by having the parent/guardian in the room, the parent/guardian will often be asked to come into the last 10 minutes of the session.  In this way the therapist can communicate events that occurred in the session as well as activities to encourage at home. In all cases a parent or guardian must stay at ICD while their child attends therapy.

Typical PT sessions of 30 to 45 minutes duration are recommended one time per week.  The duration of therapy will depend on your child’s problem. Your therapist will discuss the appropriate length of time for you your child to remain in therapy.  In general, once a child has achieved their therapy goals or progress has plateaued, therapy is discontinued.  If new concerns arise, therapy can always be reinitiated after a re-evaluation to establish new goals for your child if returning to therapy in indicated.  As children become school age, it is often more appropriate for your child to receive therapy in their school environment.  If you feel additional, after school therapy is needed following an illness, injury or medical procedure, outpatient therapy can be arranged if there are additional therapeutic goals to be met that cannot be achieved in the school setting.

Often if children are already receiving school-based therapy or therapy in the home, the need for additional therapy is not warranted on a long term basis. Rather short term therapy or episodic care may be more appropriate to supplement your child’s current program. Also once children become school age, they may need to come back for re evaluations each year to determine progress or changes in their condition and/or if additional short term therapy is needed to update their home programs.

Children who use glasses or hearing aids, or orthotics or other braces, should wear them to each therapy session for optimal participation.
Children should wear comfortable clothing and sneakers. Sandals and flip flops are not appropriate footwear for PT.

Once your child’s evaluation is completed and therapy is recommended at ICD, your insurance company will be contacted to ascertain your physical therapy benefit. Many times authorization is required before therapy can be initiated and only certain diagnoses are covered by certain plans. Many times if your child’s condition is thought to be a “delay” in development or “developmental” it may not be covered by your insurance plan. There also may be a limitation in the number of visits per year depending on your child’s condition and your insurance benefits.  If pre authorization is required for therapy, the PT evaluation report must be sent to the insurance company for approval. This may  cause a delay in initiating therapy.

Frequently the therapist will recommend coordination of services with other professionals involved in your child’s care. This may include physicians, teachers, early intervention or school therapists, or any other professionals working with your child.

When children are referred to ICD for PT and are currently already receiving PT in early intervention or school, the evaluating therapist will determine the appropriateness for additional therapy.

ICD provides PT that is medically based. Physical Therapy is recommended in the school setting when your child’s area of weakness is primarily educationally related. Educational needs should be met in the school setting.

If your child has functional mobility skill deficits the PT will recommend that therapy be provided in school.  Your school has the option to do their own physical therapy evaluation and do not have to abide by the ICD PT recommendations.  If your child has specific goals and objectives to work on in outpatient therapy, PT will be recommended on a short term basis after school to update their home exercise program.