Here are 15 of the most common and effective cerebral palsy therapy activities that play a vital role in treating kids with Cerebral Palsy (CP).
Therapy plays a crucial role to improve a child’s overall quality of life!
What’s even better is different therapies and activities may be combined tailored to a child’s needs for maximum results.
Let’s get started.
Be sure to stick around until the end to access your bonus resource. 🙂
CUEVAS MEDEK EXERCISE THERAPY
Cuevas Medek Exercise Therapy (also known as CME or MEDEK) is an intensive physical therapy session.
Many kids gain more progress towards their goals in 3 weeks of intensive therapy versus 12 months of traditional therapy.
Intense therapy means intense results.
CME is an extremely effective form of therapy to improve a child’s motor functions based on the ‘intense’ nature of the therapy.
The therapy lasts on average 3 hours per day 5 days per week for one to three week periods.
The Goals of Intensive Therapy
An intensive focuses on helping a child:
- Gain confidence
- Gain independence
- Improve balance, strength, and coordination
- Hit developmental milestones like walking, crawling, rolling over, sitting up, talking, or chewing
It is not uncommon for a child to hit a new developmental skill during an intensive.
For instance, a child who uses a walker may gain the strength and balance they need to advance into using crutches.
From my personal experience managing The LENN Foundation, a little girl we assisted took her FIRST independent steps using her AFO’s (Ankle Foot Orthosis) on day TWO of her intensive session.
The results can be astounding.
The Focus of Intensive Therapy
An intensive session focuses on training or retraining the brain and body to work in accordance through high repetitive movements and exercises.
The programs focus on:
- A child’s unique needs and goals
- Combining different therapies (such as physical, speech, and occupational)
►► Click here for a tool to help a child’s leg posture recommended by CME therapists ◄◄
PHYSICAL THERAPY
Similar to “Cuevas Medek Exercise Therapy” regular “Physical Therapy” (PT) also helps a child’s motor functions.
PT is specific to a child’s unique needs like learning to walk.
The main difference between the two types of therapies is regular PT isn’t as long or as ‘intense’ in some exercise movements as an intensive PT session.
For instance, a physical therapy session may happen only one time per week or once a month.
Versus an intensive program will last several hours per day, five days a week, for one to three-week increments.
As you can see, there is a BIG difference in how a child’s muscles will respond if receiving therapy once per week versus daily.
A certified intensive specialist once shared this with me…
If a child learned the letters of the alphabet once per week versus learning it five days a week, which option would be more effective?
Exactly, the child who learns the alphabet five days a week.
That IS what intensive therapy does.
It works your muscles repetitiously for a longer period of time, to improve overall muscle memory, strength, balance, and coordination.
►► Click here for an engaging tool to enhance a child’s motor functions ◄◄
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Activities of Daily Living (ADL) is exactly what occupational therapy (OT) focuses on.
OT teaches a child to live an independent lifestyle.
Occupational therapists help a child function at their highest level in their day-to-day activities at home, in school, or out in public.
ADL functions a child may be taught…
- How to dress
- Go to the restroom
- Brush teeth
- Play
- Go to school
The goal is to help with independence, productivity, and self-care.
The therapist works on strengthening muscle and joint coordination to perform everyday tasks (like getting dressed) if a child is challenged in this area.
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
When a child needs help effectively communicating their thoughts and feelings that’s when a speech and language therapist will step in.
With the therapist, the child focuses on their speech or talking to pronounce words, sounds, numbers, and gestures.
This type of therapy improves the functioning and muscles in the mouth to the throat area.
►►If you are worried about your toddler’s language development or have a family history of late talkers, language-learning disorders, or need prevention tips (click here!) ◄◄
FEEDING THERAPY
Swallowing or eating may be a challenge for some children.
If this is the case, a trained occupational or speech therapist steps in.
They help a kid learn how to eat or to drink OR do it better.
The therapist will enhance these functions through several approaches:
- Oral motor skills (to improve your response to the movement of the muscles in your face).
- Behavioral (implementing a reward system like a sticker when a child tries a new food).
- Sensory (develop a play-based approach where the child tolerates and interacts with a new food before eating it).
The feeding therapist also works closely with the patient and their families to determine the root cause of a child’s eating challenges.
SENSORY TOOLS
Some children may experience sensory issues in relation to their brain injury.
For instance, if a child hears a loud noise or is in a crowded environment, they may become nervous, anxious, or feel overwhelmed.
Common sensory challenges a child may display:
- An unusual low or high pain threshold
- Clumsiness
- Covering their eyes or ears often
- Picky food aversions
The good news, there are solutions to this problem through sensory tools.
Here are several ideas for easing a child’s stress and anxiety to improve and focus.
Infant focused sensory activities:
- Finger painting
- Playing with jello
- Read with soft books
- Play with weighted textured balls
Kid focused sensory activities:
- Sensory bins
- scratch-n-sniff stickers
- Beach ball word and numbers game
- Sensory sound jars
Helpful tools to manage sensory input:
- Ride toy
- Sensory seat cushion
- Weighted compression vest
- Tactile sensory ball
RECREATIONAL THERAPY
Recreational activities are a wonderful way to improve a child’s overall health and well-being (mentally, physically, and emotionally).
The feeling of confidence and independence a child experiences being involved in these types of activities is priceless.
Recreational activities are an engaging way to play such as painting, crafts, outdoor activities, swimming, music, gardening, and dance lessons to name a few.
AQUATHERAPY
Also, known as Hydrotherapy, is a type of water-based therapy that helps a child’s range of motion.
It’s a safe and effective way to decrease pain due to the buoyancy of being in the water.
The child’s muscles are no longer working against gravity when swimming or exercising in a pool.
Being in the water helps take the pressure off the muscles to relax and move more freely.
HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) helps a child who suffers from oxygen deprivation at birth.
HBOT treatments are when pure oxygen goes into the bloodstream while laying down in a pressurized chamber.
The air pressure increases in the chamber to allow more oxygen into the lungs to help fight infection.
This type of therapy is used to decrease birth injuries when an infant is born and not breathing readily after birth.
MASSAGE THERAPY
Massage therapy an alternative treatment method to help muscles function and strengthen by stimulating the brain receptors.
The direct pressure from the massage increases blood flow to the tissues which encourages new tissue growth and healing.
It is a great way to improve pain relief in kids with cerebral palsy as well as enhance their overall quality of life.
INJECTIONS
Botox Injections
Botox injections are another way to help spasticity (or muscle stiffness).
Specifically, “Botulinum-A Toxin” is a substance made by bacteria.
The shot is injected into the muscle areas to treat spasms or tightness.
You should notice an effect within 2 weeks lasting on average 3 to 4 months.
The benefits of botox injections include:
- Less muscle pain or stiffness
- Better range of motion
- Improved gait pattern
- Easier to stretch
- Able to tolerate wearing braces
- Possible delay in surgery
- Able to gain confidence and independence in upper extremities (like the arms and hands)
Phenol and Alcohol Nerve Blocking Injections
Spasticity is one of the most disabling symptoms in cerebral palsy.
It causes pain and muscle tightness.
Spasticity can be improved through various physical therapy activities including chemical neurolytic agents like phenol and alcohol nerve blocking.
So what does that mean?
Cerebral Palsy Daily Living shares, “Nerve blocking is used as a way of reducing spasticity (muscle tightness) by disrupting and blocking the overactive nerve signal from the brain to the muscles.
The nerve block involves dissolving the fatty coating or myelin sheath wrapped around the nerve, while the nerve itself remains intact.
This approach requires more precision than the use of botox since specific nerves are being targeted rather than the larger muscles themselves.”
This type of therapy is easily available.
The side effects may include skin irritation, nerve damage, or tissue damage.
HIPPOTHERAPY
Hippotherapy is therapeutic horse riding.
The therapy sessions take place at an outdoor location, arena, or barn.
A child rides a horse to improve their mobility in the hip and pelvic areas to increase flexibility, balance, and posture.
Hippotherapy combines elements of occupational, physical, and speech-language therapies to engage the child’s cognitive and sensory systems.
BEHAVIORAL THERAPY
Commonly referred to as Psychotherapy, this type of therapy focuses on improving:
- Social skills
- Academic problems
- Attention issues
A child may be impacted intellectually or have a mental disorder.
If this is the case, it can be difficult to respond to social situations.
The behavioral health therapist will focus on the problem areas to help the child make a positive progression in their life.
ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT (To Perform Daily Activities)
Adaptive equipment is designed to help a child with muscle strength issues.
These devices help with walking, standing, sitting, eating, or playing.
Common adaptive devices used to help kids with cerebral palsy may include:
- Wheelchairs
- Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO)
- Adaptive Bicycle
- Standing Equipment
- Adaptive feeding utensils
- Adaptive writing utensils
- Bath chairs
- Feeding chairs
- Gait trainer
- Walker
Not only does this type of equipment improve a child’s quality of life, but technology also provides a number of benefits as well.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY (To Communicate)
Assistive technology devices help a child in numerous ways:
- Perform in school
- Engage socially
- Express emotions
- Become self-sufficient
- Enhance self-confidence
Even though the complications and symptoms vary drastically from child to child, the common thing that affects most is mobility limitations to communicate freely.
With that said, these assistive technology tools ease communication barriers:
- Electronic communication boards
- Speech devices
- Eye-tracking devices
- Typing and writing devices
- Hearing Aid
COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What is cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that happens from brain damage in an infant either before or shortly after birth.
The brain damage can range from mild to severe.
The location of where the damage occurred affects the child with their mobility (like their balance or coordination) in one or multiple areas like the:
- Face
- Arms
- Hands
- Torso
- Legs
When is a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy?
Usually, within the first five years, a child is diagnosed.
They will experience motor delays affecting body movement and coordination.
Is cerebral palsy curable?
Unfortunately, at this time CP is not curable.
The good news is the condition will not worsen over time but can GREATLY improve with early intervention and therapy.
The main goal of therapy is to strengthen and teach the muscles to move in accordance with the brain activity.
How does Health Insurance cover Intensive Physical Therapy?
Your health insurance (private or state) controls the number of therapy sessions your child is “covered” or allowed to receive for physical, occupational, or speech therapy each year.
Once the number of sessions has been maxed out each month or annually, therapy is no longer covered.
When it comes to health insurance coverage for CME therapy, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Health insurance either covers a portion or none at all.
- Most of the time, intensive therapy is an uncovered service so families have to pay all or some of the cost out-of-pocket.
- On average, CME sessions cost a family out-of-pocket anywhere between $2,000 to $8,000 per child (for a one to three-week intensive program).
Where can my child go for CME Therapy or Intensive Physical Therapy?
Here are my TOP recommended intensive facilities I’ve had the pleasure of personally working with to help kids with neurologic impairments or motor delays:
- Innovative Suite Therapy & Fitness, LLC (Covington, Louisiana))
- NAPA Center (Los Angeles, California | Boston, Massachusetts | Austin, Texas | Australia, Sydney, and Melbourne)
- SMILE Therapy (Ontario, Canada)
- Total Education Solutions (TES) Therapy (Troy, Michigan)
- Walk This Way (Tumball, Texas)
THANK YOU!
I want to wrap up by extending my gratitude to thank you for stopping by today!
Has your child or someone you know received one or more of the therapies mentioned above?
If so, I’d love to hear your feedback.
If you have questions or anything to add that I did not cover, please comment below.
If you found value in this information, please click the sidebar link to share with someone else. ?
==> BONUS Resource: 7 Engaging and FUN ways to improve skills <==
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Note: Intensive Therapy for Kids is strictly an information website. We do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to override health care advice from a professional. Always talk to your physician or another qualified medical provider about advice, questions, diagnosis, or treatment.
Hello
In my 10 years of practice as a medical officer in a rural area, I have seen so many kids who have cerebral palsy who have not had a single form of therapy. It is so heart breaking to see these kids knowing how all these therapies may be of great help to this kids. I have also worked in areas where CP kids are able to get all these forms of therapy and the difference is just too huge. I have seen the wonders of Nerve blocking in children with spasticity as opposed to those who have no access to this form of therapy. These kids indeed need these therapies to live a near-normal life as much as it can be possible. Thank you for a great article. It is worth sharing
Hi Boi! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and insight. It is great to hear the conviction from a medical professional like yourself about how nerve blocking can truly improve a child’s spasticity. Therapy treatments are crucial for a child with cerebral palsy (especially early on in their life). I’ve seen first hand with our nonprofit who helps kids with CP that drastic results that can happen with different therapies.
Hey nice article you have there. Thanks for sharing such timely information, my neighbors child has been diagnosed with cerebral Palsy, and this has cause a lot of worries to the family. Having stumbled to this article, I am convinced that the therapy they need to combat this issue is right here, I will definitely make some recommendations to them and refer them to this article. Keep the good works. Regards.
We love to hear how this information will help another family and child. Thank you for sharing!
Hello there! Thanks a lot for the awesome review, I am really impressed with what I read about ‘Therapy’ well all known that children are the future of tomorrow so we need to give them all our support to make a better tomorrow, I was really impacted with this I well definitely visit your website in time coming
thanks alot
The children are the future of tomorrow, we couldn’t agree more 🙂 Thank you so much for your feedback.
Hi There,
I really like this idea. we disabled children and this type of content hits home.
There always needs to be extra help and support on this subject as help isn’t always easy to get.
Are you planning on looking into other disabilities?
Just ensure that you link to any organizations or other blogs on the subject.
Good luck
Very clean site by the way.
Ken
Hi Ken, thank you so much for the kind words and feedback. Motor delays are one of the most common disabilities in children so expanding around the topic of motor delays specificially is something in the works. 🙂
Heloo, Children are the leaders of tomorrow so it’s important they are Well taken care of. i actually stumbled upon your site, which is amazing I must say with so much useful and quality content. Very well written with detailed information, I have been really impacted. I will definitely visit your site in the future, thank you very much for sharing this.
Thank you so much for the kind words! We appreciate you stopping by and love that you were able to browse around. Let us know if we can answer any questions for you 🙂
Hello there thanks for this review. It was helpful and educative. Cerebral Palsy is one of the worst thing that can happen to any child especially at tender age. I happen to know a woman whose child was diagnosed of this disorder at age 3 and it really affected the child while growing up. But then an series of therapy the child became normal.
Thank you for sharing! Glad you enjoyed the post. It’s definitely amazing what therapy can do for a child with cerebral palsy and the younger they start the quicker their muscles can get trained and strengthened. Even starting therapy at a later age is very beneficial as well.
Although this type of topic saddens me greatly, I’m exceedingly glad that there are people out there offering real hope of a better life for those dealing with Cerebral Palsy. We have gained so much more insight within the last 30 years than humanity had within the previous 1000 years, at least as far as medical and psychological advancement is concerned (We may have gone backwards during this past century as far as meditation and other mentally beneficial practices are concerned, but that’s another subject).
Thanks so much for your article! The different types of therapy are interesting, but the one that struck me was hippotherapy. There is something about horses and other large animals in general, where they seem to have a sense of… I don’t even know what to call it, but they seem to understand when they are helping those who are in need. The combined elements you were referring to that are included in that particular therapy would offer a balanced approach. More like a shotgun approach.
Thanks again for the info and the heart to put this type of thing out there.
Darrin
Thank you so much Darrin for your heartfelt words and comment! It means a lot. We’ve heard so many AMAZING stories of parents who allow their child to receive Hippotherapy. The children are having a blast while working on their skills.
Cerebral palsy is very deadly and dangerous to little children because it’s capable of changing a child thinking, movement and activities. Thereby causing an abnormal changes in a child’s life,also the can be seen in the child’s growth, mist some are seen on the arms,legs,head e.t.c. Well organising a good therapy will be advisable for them so as to enhance their activities.
With technology and medicine progressing daily, I truly believe we will find a cure for cerebral palsy in the future. Thanks so much for your insight and comment!