Maximize time while treating infants and toddlers to incorporate early ambulation into natural routines and environments. Intensive labs will guide participants on how to effectively analyze and improve gait patterns.
How do you maximize your time and target gait in your interventions with infants and toddlers? This course will focus on pre and early ambulation in a population that is predisposed to rapid and dramatic changes: the birth to three population. We will examine typical and atypical ambulation development in infants/toddlers and determine how best to incorporate therapeutic activities into their natural environment and routines. The impact of biomechanics, the neuromuscular system, the sensory system, orthotics, and assistive equipment will be integrated as participants learn to build intervention strategies to address ambulation early and effectively in infants and toddlers with diagnoses such as CP, developmental delay, prematurity, and Down Syndrome.
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
1. Recognize and mediate adverse influences of the biomechanical, neuromuscular, and other body
systems (respiratory, visual, sensory, GI, etc) on the development of ambulation in infants and toddlers.
2. Develop and use pre-ambulation interventions to build the capacity for ambulation and teach families/caregivers to incorporate into the child’s daily routine.
3. Examine evidence-based intervention supports such as handling, treadmill, taping, and dynamic
garments.
4. Compare benefits to disadvantages of orthotic use by implementing current evidence in selecting and progressing orthotics to enhance functional early ambulation and preserve the quality of later ambulation.
Jan McElroy graduated from the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Missouri, completed a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy and a PhD in Pediatric Science from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She draws from over 40 years of pediatric experience with the 0-3 yr population in a wide range of settings including NICU, acute care, Early Intervention, outpatient, and inpatient rehabilitation. Jan owns a private pediatric PT practice in Columbia, Missouri. Her teaching experience includes clinical, classroom, and continuing education settings. She served as the primary physical therapy faculty on the Maternal- Child Health, LEND grant at the University of Missouri for 20 years. Currently Jan serves on the national developmental care panel to publish developmental care guidelines for the NICU. Her continuing education teaching focuses on baby treatment, assessment and treatment of infants born preterm, serial casting and temporary foot supports, and gait. Jan is co-director of the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions Continuing Education series in Neonatology and Infants Studies. She is currently conducting research in lower extremity movement patterns in infants born full term and preterm, gait, hypotonia, and movement in children with autism.
This course was very organized and informative. The instructor displayed great professionalism and presented the content using very helpful clinical examples which were relevant to my practice. I would highly recommend this course to my colleagues and would be interested in attending further courses with this speaker."- -L. Doronina, OT
"Jan's course was engaging and easy to follow. She uses videos, LABs and is very open to participant of all disciplines. This was an awesome, informative and useful course. The rich discussions that took place among PTs, OTs, and SLPs helped me immensely. Many Thanks!" -A. Myers-Morris, SLP
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
2525 Chicago Avenue South CSC 267
Education Center
Minneapolis, MN
Directions
This course meets the criteria for 21 contact hours (2.1 CEUs).
Approved provider of continuing education by the American Occupational Therapy Association #3043, for 21 contact hours - Intermediate Level Occupational Therapy Process: assessment, intervention. The assignment of AOTA CEU's does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products or clinical procedures by AOTA. NBCOT Professional Development Provider-21 PDUs. 12 hours of this course qualify toward the 20 hours requirement for NDTA re-certification