A growing amount of people are talking about brain injuries and disorders, from sports concussions to congenital defects. The focus is great, and now novel techniques are being discussed that may help patients. One new idea is known as Neurodevelopmental Therapy (or NDT). This can be used in a variety of therapeutic disciplines, including therapy for kids with disabilities.

Basically, Neurodevelopmental Therapy is a way to look at problems on a targeted, individual level. Pediatric physical therapists use hands-on methods and high-tech machines to guide patients through functional tasks. For example, consider the case of a boy who can't hold a fork might set a goal to do it. The physical therapist might guide the child through picking up the hand, locating the fork and noticing its sensation and then picking up its weight. It's baby steps, and hands-on from the time the session begins until the task is accomplished.

The most valuable part of this Neurodevelopmental Therapy method is patient goal-setting. For kids with disabilities, Mom and Dad may set the goals. For adult patients dealing with problems such as TBI and stroke, the goal could be about balance. Elite physical therapists who try these techniques say that each patient's perception of treatment can make all the difference.

Beyond the fact that sessions are encouraging, Neurodevelopmental Therapy truly works. Patients might need fewer assistive devices and less adaptive equipment and improve at proper positioning. Improvement is possible in eating, speech, movement and much more.

For children with disabilities, pediatric physical therapists can use Neurodevelopmental Therapy to help with things that will make these children less reliant on others. They can learn to support themselves, climb stairs, or even learning to crawl and grasp objects. Practitioners of this method believe that some improvement is within reach of almost any patient, even those with the most serious conditions.

The scientific research about Neurodevelopmental Therapy isn't very thorough, but the subject isn't controversial. Many of the studies have been done on small groups of patients, so aren't widely generalizable. But it all makes sense and a growing number of physical therapists for kids with special needs and other specialists have adopted its techniques.

If you need help with speech, eating and mobility, consider finding a autism symptoms in children San Diego CA expert in your area.