New parents often remain anxious about their child’s holistic development. A child doesn’t develop fully without physical, emotional, social, and cognitive growth, and any impairment can prevent them from reaching their full potential. Children who face issues in one or multiple of these developments require therapy. They don’t only need help developing themselves, but they also need care and love.
“The way we love is intentional, patient, and kind. It’s what makes us family to each other and the families we serve. Love is my favorite of our 5 core values, the things that make our team special,” says Pediatric Therapy Services Richmond, KY-based company Marshall Pediatric Therapy.
Here are a few types of physical therapies that a pediatric therapy service provides. Let’s take a look.
Pediatric Physical Therapy
Pediatric physical therapy is suitable for children with disabilities or those who are recovering from severe injuries. Children who struggle with daily activities can improve their motor skills, coordination, and strength through pediatric physical therapy. The therapists help children refine their walking, running, jumping, and moving around. The practices also improve their strength and flexibility. Children with cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy can also benefit from this type of therapy.
Pediatric Occupational Therapy
Closely resembling pediatric physical therapy, pediatric occupational therapy focuses on improving or developing skills in children that are necessary for their daily living. It focuses on fine motor skills and teaches children to perform independent activities with greater accuracy, including self-care skills like dressing, grooming, and eating. It also teaches the children to properly coordinate their muscles for tasks like writing and using utensils and tools. They are also introduced to sensory stimuli to learn to respond better.
Speech and Language Therapy
Speech and language therapy is suitable for children struggling with communication. This type of therapy teaches children to speak better and pronounce things more clearly. It also helps children understand and process spoken language. This therapy enhances children’s ability to articulate their thoughts, needs, and emotions better. The therapists use a number of techniques to achieve this, including interactive exercises and play-based activities. They keep the children engaged and make the whole process enjoyable.
Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy includes Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and helps children with autism and other behavioral challenges. It teaches children to behave appropriately in various social settings, and improves communication, sharing, and following instructions. ABA usually breaks down a large process into smaller and achievable steps, making it easier to learn. It encourages positive behavior through rewarding and reduces negative emotions such as aggression, self-injury, and tantrums. Therapists usually work with children one-on-one and address their specific problems.
Sensory Integration Therapy
This type of therapy is ideal for children with sensory processing disorders and teaches them to process and respond better to sensory stimuli. Children with this disorder often don’t react enough or overreact to sensory stimuli such as touch, movement, or sound. Therapists use play-based activities and expose them to various stimuli to engage the child’s sensory system. They also incorporate tools such as textured materials, swings, and various balance exercises for this therapy.
Music Therapy
Music therapy is an interesting process that helps children enhance their communication, emotional regulation, and social skills through musical activities. Therapists use singing, musical instruments, dancing, and rhythmic movements to improve speech and social engagement in children. It benefits children with communication challenges because
they’re required to sing and coordinate movement with the music. Group activities also help sharpen their social skills, and they learn how to coordinate with their group mates.
Aquatic Therapy
Aquatic therapy works for both sensory and physical therapy. It teaches children with physical disabilities to coordinate with outside stimuli and enhance their sensory processing. Children can move their joints and muscles when interacting with the exercises of this therapy, which reduces stress in their bodies. The exercises are much easier in water than on land, making them earlier to perform for these children.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a great form of creative expression for children, and it’s also a great process to heal. Children learn to articulate their thoughts through sketching, drawing, or painting, especially thoughts they find difficult to verbalize. This therapy is extremely useful in reducing stress and anxiety. It also improves self-esteem and improves overall emotional well-being.
Hippotherapy
Hippotherapy provides safe horse riding for children that acts as a therapy by teaching them balance, coordination, and control. It also improves their physical disability, if any. They can also form a bond with the horses. The outdoor activity and muscle movements keep them active and foster emotional well-being.
Play Therapy
This therapy uses structured play activities to enhance communication, coordination, and social skills in children. The process also requires responding to external sensory stimuli and processing the information. It’s like multiple therapies in a single method. Children also learn to work through emotional conflict and release anxiety through interactions.
Every therapy addresses a different issue. Some children might need only one of these therapies, while some might require more than that. Therapists need to identify the specific needs of the child and figure out the best method for each of them for optimum results. Some parents also get pets. Interacting with them enhances coordination, communication, social, and sensory skills in children suffering from these disorders. However, if your child needs professional help, don’t wait and talk to a pediatric therapy service today.
