A Sensory-Based Approach to Pediatric Toe Walking

Idiopathic toe walking can be a chronic impairment in the pediatric population. Currently, idiopathic toe walking lacks an effective universal clinical pathway for success. Neither surgical nor non-surgical intervention is understood to fully and consistently "cure" toe walking. This course allows the attendee to consider idiopathic toe walking gait as a secondary compensation an individual uses to achieve homeostasis, or internal consistency through a changingenvironment.

This course will practice using the Sensory Profile and interpreting the results. The results are used as a navigation tool to guide treatment choices in the clinic and for parenteducation and home programming. Through recognition of an individual's difficulty tolerating the sensory components oftheir environment, the behavior of toe walking may be explained as an automatic coping mechanism versus a learned behavior or active choice. Clinicians who address sensory modulation dysfunction in their treatment strategiesfor a child with idiopathic toe walking help families to understand toe walking is not merely the result of a cognitive choice or abnormal muscle tightness.

The content of this program is germane to children, students and clients ages 1-8.

Highlights

• Assess how behavior can be affected by environmental stressors in an individual's effort to achieve homeostasis
• Formulate treatment plans and home modifications based on standardized testing to meetthe needs of children who toe walk

Target Audience: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants