Neurological disorders (also known as neurological diseases or conditions) affect the brain, nervous system or spinal cord. There are 1,000+ neurological diseases that include: Alzheimer’s disease, Cerebral palsy, Concussions, Epilepsy, Migraines, Parkinson’s disease, Spinal cord injury, Stroke, Traumatic brain injury, etc.
Children with neurological disorders often need physical therapy and speech and language therapy. These therapy programs help them develop and maintain the necessary skills to function in everyday life.
Parents must know that neurological disorders can affect a child’s physical, cognitive, as well as communication development. With tailored physical therapy approaches, children resultantly improve their strength, coordination, balance, and range of motion. On the other hand, speech and language therapy can help children with neurological disorders improve their speech, language, and communication skills.
Challenges That Children Face With Neurological Conditions
Some kids, right from birth, struggle with neurological conditions and have problems with their mouth and throat muscles. This can lead to many difficulties in performing different activities such as swallowing, sucking, chewing, and speaking. These problems invite other issues, like a narrow and high palate, having a long face, and trouble controlling their lips, tongue, and jaw. If these issues are not taken care of from the early stage, the child may face major problems once they grow up.
In a nutshell, children with neurological conditions face challenges that affect how the body stays balanced and centered. This can create a chain reaction, causing problems with how they hold themselves and move around.
Kids facing these difficulties may also have problems with swallowing saliva, mucus, or food. Why? Because this can be connected to respiratory issues, like getting pneumonia from breathing in food or liquid. Breathing through the mouth and tilting the neck can also weaken their belly muscles and make it hard for them to control their voice when speaking.
A weakened breathing system can lead to difficulties in producing sounds, limiting their ability to communicate verbally. It may also make it challenging for them to cough effectively, which could be risky if they accidentally breathe in something that obstructs their airway.
As a parent, when you deal with a child with a neurological condition, it becomes necessary to find the best clinics to get both physical therapy and speech therapy in an integrated format.
Now, the question is – how can professionals from different disciplines such as Physical and Speech and language therapy foster integrated goals and strategies?
Let’s Find The Answer Here-
When you visit a reputed pediatric rehabilitation center that houses all types of therapists and doctors under the same roof, you could see professionals like Physical and Speech and Language therapists work together to help out children. They can use different approaches. One way is the Multidisciplinary approach, where the therapists share knowledge and talk about goals, but each therapist focuses on their own things to help the child grow. They may not work in the same place, but they still cooperate.
Another approach is the Interdisciplinary approach. Here, the therapists are in the same place, and they create tailored strategies that combine goals from both of them. They work together during the sessions, with each therapist doing their special job, but all working together to help the child get better.
The most involved approach is the Transdisciplinary approach. In this way, the therapists really focus on the child and their family. They work as a team, learning from each other and teaching each other to give coordinated help. This makes things better because they can use different ideas from different areas to help the child more.
But using this approach needs a lot of planning and checking by the therapy team. The therapists need to understand and use strategies from other areas. For example, Dubai’s best Physical therapist might help with talking during their sessions after talking with the Speech therapist. This way, they can all work together to help the child even better and talk to each other about how things are going.
Bottom Line
If you have a child with a neurological disorder, you should consult a speech and language therapist as well as a physical therapist.
If you want to discover more integrated therapy programs or our intensive therapy approach, visit our Dubai clinic today!
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