2024 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANNUAL CONFERENCE & PT EXPO

The purpose of this presentation is to reframe how a PT assesses an individual child’s impairments and subsequent therapeutic interventions. In particular when the child’s sensorineural-motor systems do not respond in the way the therapist expected. This paradigm was first published by Christine Robenalt, PT, in the 2022 book, Integrative Lifestyle Medicine for Physical Therapists. It is a simple yet encompassing approach that can be applied to pediatric clients, but also to any client who does not appear to improve or progress as anticipated. This paradigm is multi-system. It takes into account the entire child (or client) and emphasizes a strengths-based approach for clinicians and caregivers. The key components of the paradigm include, 1) Invite what you want to see; 2) Increase novelty or fun; 3) Create safety by altering sensory stimuli which is interfering with learning; 4) Start with what the child (patient) is successful with even if it is the opposite of what was desired by the PT. 5) Always act with love and respect for the child (patient), assuming positive intent.