The Disability Physio

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Australia
Carlingford, NSW
The Disability Physio

NDIS Registered Mobile Physiotherapy Service in the Hills District and Western Sydney.

Experienced working with children and adults with Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Disability and Neurological Disorders.

16/02/2026

Today an adult with cerebral palsy told me it was “normal” for them to open their bowels every 5 to 7 days.

And everyone around them had accepted that as normal.

If a typical adult told you that, you would be concerned immediately.

But in cerebral palsy, we quietly lower the bar.

We focus on: Range
Tone
Orthotics
Positioning
And sometimes we forget that internal organ function is driving half of what we are seeing.

Constipation can increase tone.

Reflux can drive irritability and poor sleep.

Swallow dysfunction affects chest health and energy levels.

Cerebral palsy is not just stiff limbs.

It is a multisystem condition!

If you want to be an expert in CP, you must look beyond the musculoskeletal system.

Comment GUT and I will send you the paper that inspired this post.

10/02/2026

I asked ChatGPT to make a caricature of me based on everything it knows about... And more!

Honestly… it's scary how accurate it is 😂

But that’s exactly what this page is about.

Because if you’re a physio student or early-career physio trying to understand cerebral palsy, it can feel like a completely different profession: AFOs, casting, gait analysis, standing frames, postural care, wheelchairs, tone management… and you’re expected to magically know what matters.

This account exists to make cerebral palsy physio make sense.

On this page you’ll get:
🧠 CP clinical reasoning
🦵 Orthotics + casting explained simply
🚶‍♂️ Gait analysis breakdowns you can actually apply
🧩 GMFCS IV–V equipment + positioning tips
📚 Evidence + clinical experience combined
I’m 10+ years into this work and still learning every week but I post what I wish someone had taught me earlier.

If you want to feel more confident treating CP (and stop second guessing everything)…
follow along.

👇 Now help me out:

Comment the CP topic you want next and I’ll make a post on it.

13/01/2026

Welcome to 2026 👋

If you’re a physio or physio student who wants to treat cerebral palsy without constantly second guessing every decision, you’re exactly where you need to be.

University gives you the foundations.

But it doesn’t teach you how to actually reason through complex CP presentations in real life.
That gap isn’t your fault...cerebral palsy is complicated.

I built this page for the physios who:
• Feel unsure if they’re missing something
• Overthink tone, gait, posture, and intervention choices
• Want to move from “hoping this is right” to knowing why they’re doing what they’re doing

Here you’ll learn how to:
• Think clearly in complex CP cases
• Understand the “why” behind movement, tone, and function

If your goal for 2026 is to feel calm, capable, and confident when treating cerebral palsy…

You’re in the right place.

Follow and settle in.

This year is about clarity, not chaos.

Comment "Start" and I'll send you my top posts to get you give you a head start in conquering CP physio

08/12/2025

Most falls in cerebral palsy don’t happen where we assess gait…

They happen on bumpy grass, hidden potholes, uneven pavements and during distractions... and a new study finally shows us why.

The Walk-Along Project interviewed children with CP while walking with them in real environments.

Not in clinics.

Not in labs.

But on the actual streets, paths and parks where they fall every week.

And what the children shared should change how we assess and treat fall risk.

Key insights physios need to know:
• Uneven ground = the #1 fall trigger
• Distractions (dogs, friends, cars, noise) instantly increase risk
• Falls happen when hazards are unseen (grass dips, shadows, busy areas)
• Kids try to “walk carefully” but this disappears the second attention shifts
• Many children have weekly “close calls” we never see in the clinic
• Individual factors like vision + ADHD matter more than we think

This matters because our traditional falls assessments miss all of this.

Flat ground walking doesn’t reflect real life.
Yet real life is where kids with CP fall the most.

If you work in paediatrics or disability physio, this study reminds us:

👉 We need to train uneven ground, not just flat surfaces
👉 We need to coach scanning and hazard awareness
👉 We need to assess attention, vision, and environment, not just ROM and strength
👉 We need to listen to children’s lived experiences just as much as we analyse their gait

Falls in CP aren’t random.
Kids can tell us why they fall, we just need the right method to ask.

If you want to read the full article (open access),
comment Falls and I’ll send it through.

Follow for more CP physio research, clinical reasoning, and real-world insights grounded in evidence + lived experience.

21/11/2025

Here’s something every paediatric physio needs to see 👇
For years, Botox has been treated like a “standard” intervention for kids with spastic CP…
but the latest 3-year data is telling a very different story.

A large study of young children with GMFCS I–III found:
❌ No improvement in gross motor function
❌ No cumulative motor gains with repeat injections
❌ And here’s the kicker… passive range of motion was better in the group who didn’t get Botox.

When you put this alongside what Multani et al. reported about long-term muscle atrophy, reduced muscle volume, and increased fibrosis…
it paints a picture we can’t keep ignoring.

As clinicians, our job isn’t to follow what is done routinely, it’s to follow evidence.
And the evidence is becoming clearer:
👉 Muscle preservation matters.
👉 Strength matters.
👉 Long-term function matters more than short-term tone changes.

If you care about evidence-based CP practice, this is the kind of research that changes how we think, plan, and advocate for better care.

📌 If this made you stop and think, share it. Another physio needs to see this today.
📝 Comment “Botox” and I’ll send you the full paper.

17/10/2025

Ever since I got my hands on turtle brace, it has totally changed the splinting and bracing game in the lower limb.

I have put the product through various trials.

I have burnt the zipper.
I have ripped the lining.
I have broken the zipper.
I have burnt my hands.

Who else is a closest tuetlebraceaholic Physio?!?

I have some turtle brace content in my stories if you wanna hear me talk about turtle brace.

08/10/2025

Who else has the same list as me as a Physio when working with children and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities?

What is on your list?

25/09/2025

💥 Hot take: Even if gold-standard RCTs showed DMI was no better than traditional PT…therapists and families are probably still going to use it.

✅ We can all agree there’s no high-level evidence for DMI or CME yet.
✅ Founders of these interventions should have a moral ans ethical duty to bring the evidence (and I hear more is coming, which is great).
✅ But therapists and families are still choosing to invest their time and money here.

For me, every child is unique. Our role as therapists is to partner with parents, be transparent, and explore what works for that child.

👉 But the question remains: if the evidence doesn’t support it… we should seriously consider why are highly skilled therapist using interventions like DMI over other interventions? What is it???

I’d love to hear your thoughts—drop a comment and let’s open this discussion up.

And if you want the link to the article, comment with an emoji about how you feel about DMI or CME.

And yes I have a DMI box set that's been collecting dust in my home for years 😂 I'll use it someday... I swear

15/09/2025

Botox has been the go to for years in cerebral palsy management. But what if there’s another option on the horizon?

💡 Hyaluronidase is gaining attention as a possible alternative, working differently, aiming to address stiffness at the tissue level rather than just blocking nerve signals.

This could mean fewer injections, longer-lasting benefits, and a shift in how we manage tone and mobility.

⚠️ Still early days, but as physios we need to stay ahead of emerging treatments.

👉 Would you be ready to explore hyaluronidase if it proves effective?

Drop “Future” below and I’ll send you the latest research.

Address

Carlingford, NSW
2118

Telephone

+61410626878

Website

http://Www.thedisabilityphysio.com.au/

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