Little Leaps Physical Therapy

Look at how much more Jesse is using his arms functionally during crawling AND transitions from floor to stand! On day 1, he was very resistant to any hands and knees and collapsed down to his forearms for floor mobility. On day 5, he performed 4-5 cycles of hands and knees crawling with demonstration only! This is HUGE for floor mobility, transfers, vestibular input, and proximal stability. His parents have been rocking his home program since his first intensives which meant we could also work on more weight bearing into his legs and upright endurance. We really stepped up the upright dynamic activities this time around which helped him walk by thigh and ankle and gain some great upright stability. Way to go, Jesse! #dynamicmovementintervention #dmiintensive #pediatrictherapy #pediatricpt #intensivephysiotherapy

A slightly sped up overview of a few of the ways Miss Emma conquered her first intensive last week! This sweet girl worked so hard and made some great gains! - Emma stood INDEPENDENTLY for 4 beautiful and steady seconds on day - She started creeping on hands and knees more and pulled to stand at taller supports. - In tall kneel at toy, her base of support was more narrow meaning she was using core and bottom muscles for stability! - She used her arms to push up to assist with floor to stand transitions! - She stood by ankles for 10s! - She took steps by one thigh and ankles consistently! Way to go Emma for all of your incredible work last week! #dmi #dmiintensive #dynamicmovementintervention #pediatricpt #downsyndrome #trisomy21

Not only did this girl ROCK day 3, she smiled and laughed her way through it (mostly…)! She LOVES vestibular so we are really using vestibular to help her with trunk control, postural righting, and upright endurance. We introduced weight shifting today to help with upright mobility and posture. Can we also talk about how amazing and supportive her parents are during her intensive?! They are always there with new toys and dance moves to keep her motivated!! Couldn’t do it without you guys!! Great job, Emma!! #dmiintensive #dynamicmovementintervention #downsyndrome #pediatricphysicaltherapy

Adding mini DMI intensives to the treatment of littles with torticollis has been a GAME CHANGER! Take Maggie, for example! She presented with left sided torticollis, moderate left trunk side bending and right rotation in all positions, and decreased cervical and trunk extension. During her mini intensive, we challenged her vestibular system in order to provoke motor responses including head and trunk righting and extension. We used transitions and positioning to elongate musculature functionally and facilitated symmetrical co-contraction to improve firing patterns and motor plan. Way to go Miss Maggie!!! #dmi #dynamicmovementintervention #dmiintensive #torticollisbaby #torticollistreatment #pediatricphysicaltherapy

We Rock The Spectrum is a totally inclusive sensory gym tor kiddos of all ages and abilities! They provide “Play With A Purpose” which encourages strengthening of the vestibular system and proprioception (and the other senses!) through play on their equipment, which includes crash mats, swings, tunnels, zip-lines, and MORE! We Rock The Spectrum- Bradenton is having their Grand Opening THIS Saturday! Come check it out! Little Leaps is SO excited to be scheduling DMI intensives at We Rock The Spectrum! This is a great opportunity for siblings to get their play and have fun in the gym when their brother or sister is working hard in their intensive! DM Little Leaps or reach out through the website with questions or to schedule your child’s intensive!! #wrtsbradenton #werockthespectrum #dmi #dmiintensive #dynamicmovementintervention ##pediatricphysicaltherapy

What a great year! For those of you that don’t know, I started Little Leaps back in April 2023 and scheduled a few intensives over the summer before having baby boy #2 in July. I finished  the year off strong after taking a few months with my little one, and cannot be more excited to go 100% in with Little Leaps for 2024!   ❤️Thank you to the families that trusted me to help your children grow. Who welcomed me into their homes and on their child’s journey.  ❤️Thank you to the kiddos who worked SO hard. Who fought through tears, challenging activities, and new positions and input but came out STRONG. I am always so impressed at these little ones, especially with intensives. They all work so hard and make such amazing gains.  ❤️Thank you to my family who supported me from day 1. I truly could not have created and grown Little Leaps without each and everyone of them providing constant support and encouragement along the way.  ❤️Thank you to the DMI community and fellow therapists that support each other so positively. It is a community unlike any other where the true main focus is helping kids.  I am so excited for 2024!  I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!  #dmi #dmitherapy #dmiintensive #intensivephysicaltherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy

Look at this sweet girls improved weight shift and stability after another session this week! You can see on the right her center of gravity is more over her base of support, her core is engaged, and she is actually spending some time in single leg stance during swing!! She isn’t diving into a support! This girl works SO hard and pushes through all the challenging activities I throw at her!!! You are truly a rockstar, Violet! I cannot wait to see all the mountains you climb! #dmi #dmitherapy #dmiintensive #pediatricphysicaltherapy

Look at the difference between the first and fifth repetition of this exercise! Did this cutie instantly gain strength within a few minutes? Nope, not quite! Then why does it look so much better? This little guy prefers extension and this exercise is all about flexion and postural righting. When given downward cues at his pelvis and midline, he initially fights it. He arches and attempts to extend (preferred) to complete. You can see even when he makes it up to sitting he continues to push away. However, with increased trials, he corrects his head/body orientation in space and responds to the cues instead of fighting them. Yes, this 100% will improve core and neck strength eventually, but the immediate improvement is a result of his postural righting and responses! This is just a little insight into why intensives are so powerful! #dmiintensive #dmi #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy

A quick glimpse at some of the challenging exercises Amelia conquered last week during her DMI intensive. She was able to get to ankles or even 1 leg only with most of these which means her core and ankles were working SO hard!!! Switching up the activities to ensure they are novel and challenging as well as decreasing support are a key part of DMI, intensives, and progressing with goals and functional skills! Great job, Amelia!! #dmi #dmitherapy #dmiintensive #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy

A quick glimpse at some of the challenging exercises Amelia conquered last week during her DMI intensive. She was able to get to ankles or even 1 leg only with most of these which means her core and ankles were working SO hard!!! Switching up the activities to ensure they are novel and challenging as well as decreasing support are a key part of DMI, intensives, and progressing with goals and functional skills! Great job, Amelia!! #dmi #dmitherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy #neuroplasticity

Amelia worked SO hard during her intensive last week!! We did some really hard things and the first couple days were a little rough, but by day 3 she was rockin’ it!! By the last day she was maintaining high kneel with full hip extension for up to 30s (compared to 5s before!) and she was transition to floor to stand through half kneel with so much more power and less support! And look at how much more confident she is with those stairs! Both up and down! As well as an improvement in her alignment! What an amazing week with such a sweet girl and her awesome family!! This girl is going to move mountains!! #dmi #dmiintensive #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy

Post Heel contact is SO important during standing, walking, and functional activities. The heel is the shock absorber during gait, providing a huge amount of proprioceptive input and grounding. When the heel is in contact, it facilitates the core and bottom muscles to turn on and provides a larger base of support, which improves balance. Because of this, it allows weight shift in all planes. If the heel is not in contact, the front of the foot (forefoot) becomes the shock absorber which it was not made to do! Core and glute muscles are not engaged which can lead to decreased strength. The base of support is much more narrow which limits weight shift and balance significantly. The therapist can promote this through handling and proper alignment of forces during steps, inclines/declines, and transitions. Intensives provide the repetition need to change motor plans! #dmitherapy #dmi #intensivetherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy

Here are a couple common questions I get about Little Leaps intensives! First off, just about every kiddo would benefit! The wide range of exercises with the ability to level up or down makes the DMI approach versatile! Whether your kiddo is high tone or low tone, not crawling or only sitting, or you are trying to fine tune their walking, intensives can help! Secondly, I do not place a weight limit for my kiddos. I think safety of my kiddo and my body is without a doubt #1. However, because of the variety of exercises taught and the many ways they can be modified, kiddos can still see GREAT improvements in their goals even if I am not able to float them! I always discuss this with parents ahead of time so they know the intensive may look a little different than what they might have seen on social media. Email or DM me to learn more! #dmitherapy #dmi #dynamicmovementintervention #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy

3 systems play a role in our balance… 🔹Vision- If vision is affected, balance will decrease. Try standing on one leg with your eyes open, and then with your eyes closed. Without vision, we must rely on our other systems more which is why you will feel your trunk swaying, your ankle wiggling, and maybe even your arms raising out to the side. 🔸Vestibular- Vestibular is how we respond to movement, such as head and postural righting. If we stumble, our vestibular system tells our head and body how to re-orient/correct so we don’t fall. 🔹Proprioception is the ability to know where we are in space. This occurs in all our joints. The ankle wiggling you is proprioception and the wiggling is your ankle strategy. With decreased proprioception, ankle strategy will be poor. Balance can be further divided into static (stable) or dynamic (moving). Both of these are the foundation to success with developmental skills such as sitting, crawling, standing, and walking. Balance is a HUGE focus in many DMI activities. These activities target balance through varying different components including base of support, external support, and dynamic surface. Balance is critical for function and movement, and that is what DMI is all about! Little Leaps is here to help if your little one is struggling with balance! Limited spots remain for 2023! #dmi #dynamicmovementintervention #dmitherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy #balance

The vestibular system is the system in our body that tells our brain where our head is at in relation to our body and space. It tells us what motion is happening and how to respond to it. It plays a major roll in our balance, postural reactions, and body orientation. When we are little, we unknowingly strengthen this system through movement (rolling, transitions to sitting, crawling, walking, etc.) because of our changing head position. The vestibular system is “housed” in our inner ear with receptors that respond to head movement. For kiddos that exhibit delay in these developmental positions or skip them altogether, their vestibular system has never had to respond to these movements. This tends to result in higher sensitivity to such input. Therapy and intensives can help strengthen the vestibular system through focus on functional movement. The exercises seen with DMI are great because they challenge this system through rotation, postural righting, and head and trunk position. Message or email Little Leaps if you would like more information about how therapy and intensives can help your kiddo! #dmi #dynamicmovementintervention #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy #vestibularsystem

Proximal = near the center of the body, so we are talking shoulders, core, back, pelvis, and bottom. Many impairments kiddos present with can be secondary to poor proximal strength and stability including poor sitting or standing balance, delayed mobility, delayed transitions, and atypical gait or posture. However, this isn’t suggesting that doing sit-ups all day is the solution. The best way I have found to strengthen proximally is to challenge positions that require these muscles to turn on and stay on. Challenge can refer to decreasing support, increasing duration of a position, or adding a dynamic component. Many DMI exercises focus on improving this while also addressing other areas that are often delayed as well (proprioception, sensory and vestibular input). #dmi #dmitherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy

Even for kiddos who are ambulatory, crawling and climbing activities are a great way to strengthen muscles, challenge balance, and implement problem solving and motor planning. Additionally, crawling and climbing can help integrate primitive reflexes and provide needed proprioceptive and vestibular feedback. This can help kiddos with improved focus and a more organized sensory system. This a great activity to add to a school day, homework session, or rainy day if your kiddo is seeming restless and needs to move! This is just another reason I am a big advocate for the importance of crawling #pediatricphysicaltherapy #functionalmobility #dmitherapy #dmiintensive #dmitherapy

Sweet Emberly worked so hard during her first intensive and built such a great, strong foundation for future skills! A main focus was on trunk and head control as well as more functional weight bearing and she made such great gains! She now is able to attain more extension in tummy time and supported hands and knees. Her initiation and maintenance of trunk extension was a key point as this skill is critical for floor mobility, sitting, and upright posture. And of course, initiation of play and function! Emberly maintained prop sit for 10s, floated in standing on plank for 5s, repositioned arms and pushed through leg during assisted commando crawl, and maintained hands and knees with support at trunk! Talk about some big gains! Emberly and her family are hard working and dedicated and I know she will continue improving and making gains! #dmitherapy #dynamicmovementintervention #pediatrictherapy #pediatricphysicaltherapy #intensivephysicaltherapy #cerebralpalsy