Services We Provide
Physical Therapy
Currently Scheduling
Physical therapists work with your child to improve functional mobility and gross motor skills to allow for better participation in their home and community environments. We work with a variety of neurological, genetic and orthopedic conditions. Some typical diagnoses that benefit from Physical Therapy include:
- Developmental Delay
- Prematurity
- Cerebral Palsy
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Low Tone/Hypotonia
- Down Syndrome
- Spina Bifida
- Torticollis
- Plagiocephaly
- Toe Walking
- Arthrogryposis
- Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Orthopedic and Sports Injuries
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Physical Therapists help your child progress towards their goals through treatment sessions focused on strengthening, balance, coordination, range of motion, stretching, alignment and postural control. We also provide home exercise programs and parent education to assist with supporting your child at home.
Speech Therapy
Coming Soon
Pediatric speech therapists assist in helping children to communicate better and break down barriers that result from speech impediments. The goal of speech therapy is to assist children in effectively expressing their wants and needs within their home and community.
Speech-language therapy has a broad scope and may focus on production of sound, articulation, oral motor control, language development, cognitive skill development and augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) to achieve therapy goals. Additionally, speech therapists may support a child's ability to breast and bottle feed as well as chew and swallow solid foods, or increase the variety of foods they can/will eat.
Occupational Therapy
Coming Soon
Pediatric occupational therapists promote meeting developmental milestones, improving self-care, play, and self-regulation skills, and assist in overcoming sensory challenges through a variety of play and treatment techniques.
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Families may seek occupational therapy services to assist children who are having difficulty with self-dressing, feeding, handwriting, coordinating upper body movements, or interacting with the environment around them.
Supporting Treatment Options
An Individualized Approach
Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI)
A therapeutic technique used in therapy to treat children with motor delay by improving automatic postural responses and help each child progress towards developmental milestones. The goal of DMI is to provoke a specified active motor response from the child in response to defined dynamic exercises prescribed by the therapist.DMI stimulates neuroplasticity to help your child's brain make new and improved connections and to stimulate growth towards meeting motor milestones.
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Visit the DMI website for more information.
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)
Functional Electrical Stimulation or FES is a form of electrical stimulation in which surface electrodes are placed on specific muscle groups to assist those muscles with performing a motor activity.  Unlike Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) which provides a higher intensity stimulation for a shorter duration with the primary focus being to strengthen a muscle group, FES is used to activate muscles during a movement cycle such as walking, sit to stand, squatting, etc to re-train those muscles on how to function correctly during typical motor tasks.  Children with neurological impairments can greatly benefit from FES. Research has shown that spastic muscles have a resting membrane potential that is lower than non-spastic muscles, meaning these muscles require a larger amount of input in order to activate during movement.  FES provides that increased stimulation needed to excite the motor neurons responsible to assisting with muscle contraction.  Your therapist will use a trigger to activate specific muscle groups  at the correct time during your child’s movement pattern to assist with recruiting spastic muscles correctly during motor activities. Overtime, these muscles will re-learn correct movement patterns allowing for improved posture, gait and general functional mobility.
Whole Body Vibration
Whole body vibration (WBV) has been shown to be effective for reducing muscle spasticity, improving muscle strength, increasing bone density, and promoting balance. At Wild and Free, we use a Hypervibe machine that is a plate providing the WBV at different intensities based on the child's needs. WBV can benefit children with a variety of diagnosis, including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and movement disorders.
Kinesiotaping
Kinesiotape is thin flexible tape with an elastic component that helps to aide muscle function. It can assist with improving patient function by improving oral motor, fine motor and gross motor skills. In pediatrics, kinesiotape has additional benefits that include:
Increased body awareness via sensory input
Joint stabilization for increased distal control
Reduced fatigue by strengthening and supporting weak muscles
Improved muscle and body alignment through motor skills development
Relieve swelling and pain for better muscle function
Activates weak muscles to improve postural control
With the right application technique, kinesiotape can activate injured or weak muscles, assist with corrective biomechanical alignment and inhibit overactive muscles. We use pediatric specific tape that is made with a gentler adhesive that will not aggravate sensitive skin conditions, improving our patient’s tolerance for taping and allowing them to receive the full benefits of each application.
Compression Garments
Compression garments can be used as a wonderful adjunct to therapy to help improve body awareness, posture, stability and quality of movement. Compression garments are wearable items a child wears that provides the child with external sensory input. Children that may benefit from a compression garments include those with neurological or developmental conditions affecting muscles and strength, motor delays, difficulties with standing or walking, attention and concentration difficulties, and sensory processing issues and disorders. Examples of garments that we may use or recommend include SPIO products, Benik products, and abdominal binders.
Serial Casting
Serial casting is a conservative method of treatment used to improve range of motion at the ankle joint through the application of a series of casts. The casts are applied every 5-7 days for a 4-8 week period depending upon the patient’s severity and response to treatment. Every 5-7 days, the cast is removed and range of motion is re-assessed to determine whether continued treatment is required. Serial casts provide a prolonged stretch to the muscles that cross the ankle joint to allow for improved range of motion, increased flexibility, increased tolerance for manual stretching and improved tolerance for splints or braces. Increasing a child’s ankle range of motion allows for improved standing balance, improved posture and allows them to achieve a more typical gait pattern, thus improving their independent functional mobility. Serial casting is an effective treatment method for children with cerebral palsy, idiopathic toe walking, muscular dystrophy, traumatic brain injury, joint contracture or spasticity.
Aquatic Therapy - Now Offering!!
Aquatic therapy is a specialized therapy provided in a pool setting, utilizing the properties of water such as buoyancy, surface tension and drag to assist patients with achieving their physical therapy goals. Water buoyancy allows many patients to move more freely than they can on land, allowing increased mobility for many patients who have difficulty standing and walking without assistance. Water resistance can help increase strength and range of motion. Additionally, water provides increased proprioception that many patients with sensory needs can benefit from. Aquatic therapy is a great treatment method for kids with a variety of diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, down syndrome, sensory processing disorder, developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, autism and many others.