Pediatric patients’ motor deficits present like puzzles that we have to piece together; hypothesizing which deficits are the cause, and which deficits are the consequence of underlying pathologies. This speaker will make the case that PTs should assess motor deficits from a multisystem perspective. How did the problem start? What is the priority “problem” today: musculoskeletal, neuromotor, cardiovascular/pulmonary, integument, or internal organs? Following a baby struggling to survive in the NICU to that same boy headed off to college, the speaker will use a multi-system approach to assessing and prioritizing motor issues as his problems changed throughout childhood, and to anticipate his needs as he moves into adulthood. Clinicians will be coached to use this same strategy to see the “whole puzzle” for their own clients; prioritizing current needs, while recognizing past problems and looking forward to the future to optimize the clients life-long health and participation outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Look beyond presenting motor deficits to seek out “why” the motor deficits are there.
Describe the relationship between pediatric physiologic deficits in the cardiovascular/pulmonary and internal organ systems and identify possible resultant motor/postural deficits.
Demonstrate the use a multi-system decision tree to evaluate clients and set current and future PT priorities for clients’ motor deficits.
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