lists spend time getting to know our patients in order to figure out what kind of activities they enjoy.
Patients are encouraged to attend sporting events, go to movies and participate in other community activities. Many patients participate in adaptive recreational sports, including skiing, tennis, baseball and more. Art programs give patients an opportunity to experiment with adaptive devices and encourage creative expression.
Specific treatments and services may vary by location. Please contact a specific location for more information.
Medical Team for Spinal Cord Injuries
Patients will see a multidisciplinary team uniquely qualified to care for the needs of a growing child or adolescent with a spinal cord injury. Our team informs, educates and helps provide a better quality of life for children with spinal cord injuries and their families. Your child's care team members may include:
- Advanced practice nurses
- Biomedical engineers
- Care coordinators
- Child life specialists
- Hand surgeons
- Nurse practitioners
- Occupational therapists
- Orthopedic surgeons
- Pediatric orthopedists
- Pediatric physiatrists
- Physical therapists
- Plastic and reconstructive surgeons
- Recreation therapists
- Respiratory therapists
- Social workers
- Speech therapists
- Spine surgeons
- Transition specialists
Rehabilitation for Spinal Cord Injuries
Rehabilitation services for children with a spinal cord injury may include physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Physical therapists work with children on developing gross motor skills, balance, mobility, transfers, walking, strength, flexibility, sports rehabilitation and wheelchair or adaptive equipment evaluations.
Occupational therapists work with children to develop fine motor skills, train in basic self-care, and use of adaptive equipment. Occupational therapists make custom splints and help patients increase their upper-extremity strength, endurance and flexibility.
Speech therapists assist children with feeding and swallowing disorders, as well as language delays and impairments. Children with limited verbal skills are assessed for augmentative and alternative communication devices.
Your child may be scheduled for inpatient or outpatient therapy with any or all of our therapists. Therapy may also be scheduled on a regular basis or following a surgery.
Your child's first appointment will start with an evaluation to decide where their therapy needs may be. Our therapists are able to care for a wide variety of orthopedic and neurologic conditions.
Our therapy program provides a wide range of services, including activity-based rehabilitation, exercise programs, adaptive sports, aquatic therapy and animal-assisted therapy. These activities help build strength, increase social interaction, and build confidence and independence for children.
If your child needs assistive tools or devices, such as communication devices, standers, movement or bathroom aids, our therapists will teach you and your child on how to use them properly.
Shriners Children's patients often describe our staff members as part of their family. This is awesome, because our therapists work hard to involve the entire family in each child's rehabilitation. When the whole family helps a child with their therapy, there is a much quicker rate of success.
Equipment That May Be Used:
- Body-weight-supported treadmill training
- Upper and lower functional electrical stimulation cycles
- H200 wireless hand rehab system
- Aqua-therapy pool
- Augmentative and alternative communication
- AlterG treadmill
- Planar seating system
Advanced Therapies, Advanced Medicine
Activity-based rehabilitation strategies may include body-weight-supported manual treadmill training, robotic treadmill training on the Lokomat, and functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling.
Management of youth with tetraplegic spinal cord injuries may include FES, reconstructive surgery and assistive technology.
A motion analysis center assists in evaluation of gait (how a child walks) in youth with spinal cord injuries who are able to walk.
Wheelchair users