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

A Guide for Parents and Professionals

Sieglinde Martin, M.S., P.T.

While most families of young children with cerebral palsy and similar conditions work in conjunction with a physical therapist a few times a week, it takes daily intervention to help a child reach his motor potential and become more independent.

Teaching Motor Skills is the resource that parents, therapists, and other caregivers can consult to help children with gross motor delays learn and practice motor skills outside of therapy sessions. Written by an experienced physical therapist who is also the mother of a child with cerebral palsy, this comprehensive guide examines the physical characteristics of cerebral palsy and similar conditions--muscle tightness and weakness, increased or decreased flexibility, abnormal reflexes, impaired sensory perception--that affect a child's ability to sit, crawl, stand, and walk. Teaching Motor Skills offers dozen of easy-to-follow exercises with accompanying photos that parents may incorporate into many daily routines at home with the guidance and support of their child's physical therapist.

Exercises address:

Head control
Protective reactions
Proper positioning
Independent sitting with and without arm support
Transitional movements
Daily stretching
Improving muscle strength and coordination
Balance training
Gait training

Full of anecdotes and frequently-asked-questions, with a chapter on medical interventions and bracing, and an appendix of equipment and supplies, this user-friendly guide helps parents and professionals coordinate their efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for the child.

About the Author

Sieglinde Martin, M.S., P.T., is a physical therapist with more than thirty years of clinical experience working with children with cerebral palsy and their families. Ms. Martin earned her degree in physical therapy from the University of Cologne, Germany, and her Master’s of Science degree at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Currently she works part-time at Children's Close To Home Health Care Center in Dublin, Ohio. She is also the author of Pediatric Balance Program (Therapy Skill Builders, 1998).