The PediaSuit Protocol^tm when combined with our Intensive Pediatric Fitness program results in improvements achieved sooner than with traditional physical therapy.

Intensive Pediatric Therapy is usually a 80 hr program over 4 weeks. With traditional therapy, 80 hrs would normally be delivered over 30 weeks (avg. 2 hours per week) or 7 ½ months. Children require repetition to learn new tasks; Children with disabilities require many more repetitions to learn the same task, often thousands compared to hundreds of repetitions. Intensive Therapy helps to accomplish this goal.

The PediaSuit Protocol™ increases proprioceptive awareness and positions the child in a more ideal alignment during various activities. Re-establishing the correct postural alignment plays a crucial role in normalizing muscle tone, sensory and vestibular function. The suit aligns the body as close to normal as possible and the idea is to move body parts against resistance, thus improving muscle strength. An attached series of elastic cords provides compression to the body’s joints and resistance to muscles when movement occurs. Through placement of the elastic cords, selected muscle groups can be exercised as the patient moves limbs, thus, suit therapy is a form of controlled exercise against a resistance. It is also claimed that the suit improves balance and coordination.

Intensive integrated physical fitness programs are customized to fit the needs of each child, with specific functional goals and usually involve a rehabilitation program that includes about 200 minutes of exercise per day for 6 days a week, including 90 to 120 minutes of the suit application. The PediaSuit Protocol™ is often used as part of a comprehensive program of intensive physiotherapy of five to seven hours a day for four weeks. It combines the best elements of various techniques and methods, and has a sound rationale based on physiology of exercises. It is important to note that use of the suit is only one component of an overall approach. Parental involvement is highly encouraged and parents are often part of the treatment program. It needs to be mentioned, however, that a true intensive therapy program is not merely doing the same exercise over and over again, but rather is a structured approach to physical activity with consideration to person’s individual cycles of progressive overload, fatigue and recovery.

You can find this type of therapy at Therapies 4 Kids

The key element in an intensive plan is a strengthening and balance program established for the participant based on his/her individual needs, strengths and weaknesses. Increased strength is reflected in daily functional activities that usually follow or are combined with strengthening exercises. Elimination of pathological reflexes and establishing new, correct, and functional patterns of movements is of significant importance. A typical day of an intensive program may consists of warming up and deep tissue massage, tone reduction and sensory integration techniques, decreasing pathological movement patterns, increasing active proper movement patterns, stretching/strengthening specific muscle groups responsible for functional movement, progressive resistance exercise, balance/coordination and endurance training, and transferring of functional activities and gait training. Thus, intensive therapy is ideal for those looking to accelerate their progress in developmental and functional skills.