Nurturing Your Child’s Motor Development
We are each born with a genetic imprint that dictates how we develop. Nature and nurture work together to make us a ballerina or a couch potato! As online information and social media access and platforms expand, parents can gauge their children’s development. When concerns arise about a child’s motor function, we are ready to address these concerns.
Do any of these sound familiar to you? Working with us can improve your child’s gross motor skills and help them to be the active, engaged, and playful children they are truly meant to be
Give our clinic a call today to schedule an appointment!
Understanding the importance of pediatric therapy
A few common reasons pediatric therapy could benefit your child are:
- They have not met specific developmental milestones yet
- They have coordination issues
- They have abnormal muscle tone
- They were born with a genetic disorder, e.g., Down syndrome
- Delayed acquisition of gross motor milestones
- Difficulty keeping up with peers on the playground
- Falling without an apparent cause
The trouble with gross motor skills happens due to being born prematurely or having any sort of neurological impairment, whether due to birth complications or a genetic disorder.
To help encourage the development of gross motor skills, your therapist will help your child with basic muscle movements, from lifting their head and putting weight on their arms and legs to figuring out the coordination necessary to roll over and begin to crawl.
It is never too early to start working with a pediatric therapist. Research has shown over and over again the benefits of early intervention with developmental delays.
The earlier you can start targeting muscle development and growth and begin working in earnest to improve coordination and muscle function, the more likely your child will experience a more typical development.
Are you wondering why your child is lacking in developmental skills?
According to the American Physical Therapy Association’s Choose PT website:
“A developmental delay is diagnosed when a child is assessed as being more than “a little behind” in performing everyday skills. The term defines a substantial lag in performance and may be used to describe any type of delay in 1 or more of the following five skill areas:
- Fine and gross motor (movement)
- Cognitive (thinking)
- Social and emotional
- Speech and language
- Activities of daily living
These delays may or may not result from a specific medical condition. For example, a child with Down syndrome is identified at or before birth as having the syndrome but also can have developmental delay.
This fact holds true for any child with a disability, such as autism or cerebral palsy. Children without a specific medical condition, however, may still have a developmental delay. Early assessment is key. Parents should express any concerns, even the slightest ones, to their pediatrician or physical therapist.”
If your child’s motor development is your specific concern and if you are wondering if a pediatric therapist can help, consider these examples from Pathways.org:
- At the age of 3 months, is your infant able to do tummy time? Are they able to lift their heads?
- At the age of 6 months, is your infant able to roll from tummy to back and back to tummy? Are they stiffening their legs during movement?
- At the age of 9 months, can they reach for a toy while sitting? Are they able to use their arms?
A parent knows their child best, so if you have a hunch that there is a concern, please call us, and we will do a full pediatric assessment and make a plan of care if needed.
Ready to get your child started on a pediatric therapy plan?
Rolling, crawling, walking, and jumping are all actions that infants should perform early on in development.
For a child to be deprived of the fun of learning how their body moves and unable to explore the world around them is unfair and heartbreaking for the parent.
Working with us can be the solution you need to help your child to experience a more standard developmental schedule. For more information or to schedule a consultation, give us a call.