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 A look, a touch, a sound – it's the little
things that count. It's these little things that introduce
your baby to your world. It is an exciting beginning
for you and your newborn. Mercy's Early Developmental
Intervention Program begins in the Mercy Birth Center
when your baby is just 24 hours old. An occupational
therapist does a 15–20-minute check-up on a newborn's
neuro-developmental skills, which includes muscle tone
and reflexes, sucking ability and overall stimulation
of the baby.
They also provide screening of infants in NICU and
education of their parents prior to their discharge
home.
Mercy Physical Therapy offers hippotherapy (physical
therapy using horses) at the Hasty Heart Stables in
East Dubuque for school-age children. Being on the horse
helps loosen the hip and leg muscles and helps educate
the walking muscles.
Five-year-old Claire Bonnstetter of Clinton, Iowa, was
diagnosed with Dejerine-Sottas Disease (in the same
family as muscular dystrophy) as an infant. "That means
her muscles are weak and she needs to have therapy to
build strength in her arms, hands and legs," said her
mother, Marsha. "It is a disease that generally worsens
with time, so Claire needs to get and keep the best
therapy possible."
"We use the platform swing to build her upper body
strength," said Occupational Therapist Amy Conlin. "As
Claire swings forward, she grabs hold of the rope with
her hands, and then works her way up the rope, trying
to hold on for as long as possible."
"I've seen a huge improvement in Claire since she started
her therapy here. She can button, snap and zipper things,
open car doors by herself and hasn't used a walker since
the fall of 1999." Claire also comes for hippotherapy
and aquatic therapy.
Aquatic therapy works for children with special needs
by using swimming strokes or other "fun" movements in
the pool. The movement and use of weakened muscles,
along with increased circulation in the water, generally
improve the health and tone of the muscles involved.
"A physical therapist focuses on the gross motor skills
such as walking, running, play activities, balance and
coordination," said Pam McIntyre, physical therapist
at Mercy. Physical therapy addresses neurological and
muscular disorders and helps children improve overall
body control and stability.
Mercy therapists treat and manage the care of infants,
children and adolescents with a variety of congenital,
developmental, neuromuscular, skeletal or acquired disorders/diseases
that may cause limitations in a number of areas.
A child's main "job" is playing and learning. An occupational
therapist can evaluate a child's skills for play activities,
self-care and school and work performance. The therapist
works on facilitating developmentally-appropriate skills
to meet the child's needs.
"Some of the activities that occupational therapists
can address to meet children's needs are working on
fine motor skills required for cutting, coloring and
legible handwriting," said Kim Ruggeberg, occupational
therapist at Mercy. "We also address upper body strength,
endurance and hand-eye coordination to improve play
skills, such as hitting a target, batting a ball or
copying words from the blackboard."
An occupational therapist may evaluate a child's needs
in some basic tasks, such as bathing, getting dressed,
brushing teeth or self-feeding.
Speech therapy addresses a variety of communication
disorders including language delays, difficulty with
pronunciation and stuttering. A speech therapist can
also address swallowing and feeding concerns.
Speech therapists specializing in pediatrics are trained
to administer a variety of assessment tools and develop
an individualized therapy plan for each child. Therapy
is provided one-on-one during structured play activities
to help each child communicate to the best of his or
her abilities.
For more information, call the Mercy Therapy Department
at (563) 589-9035.
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