A Valuable Lesson – Research is Key

Research

When thinking of the future for a child with Cerebral Palsy or any disability, it can be scary. Daunting, even. A series of thoughts can go through one’s mind: denial, immediate future, long-term future, and maybe even thoughts of a cure. For Cerebral Palsy, there is no cure, although for people with Spastic Diplegia or…

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Melissa’s Journey

Melissa

Melissa is one of our clients here at Breakthrough. She is an amazing, determined, and motivated woman who has inspired us since the day we met her. She wanted to share her story here and we thought you may find it inspiring too! We thank Melissa for her contribution and for sharing her unique point…

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What Did You Say? Body Awareness

What is body awareness? I have this discussion all of the time with parents…especially in evaluations when describing observed movement patterns and mobility in the environment. I was recently describing what this term meant to a parent after noticing her hypotonic/“low tone” daughter was stumbling when trying to walk around and navigate the gym environment.…

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What Is The Difference Between Muscle Tone And Strength?

Muscle Tone and Strength

Often as a physical therapist, I get the question “What is the difference between muscle tone and strength?” I’ve decided to put together a fact sheet for EASY distinction on the differences so you, as a parent, can better understand your child. Muscle TONE is defined as the tension in a muscle at rest. It…

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Diagnosing Early: Why it’s Important?

“Cerebral palsy describes the most common physical disability in childhood and occurs in 1 in 500 live births. Historically, the diagnosis has been made between age 12 and 24 months but now can be made before 6 months’ corrected age.”* Recently, a systemic review came out published in JAMA Pediatrics (medical review journal) that studied…

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Essential Oils and Brain Injuries

Essential Oils

Essential oils have grown rapidly as a holistic solution for health ailments. Not only have I personally experienced patients and their families using them, but I have also seen more of them in local stores such as TJ Maxx. Granted I don’t shop very often, I have noticed essential oils on the uprise, especially within…

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Why ONE Method Just Won’t Work

Woman Who Changed Her Brain

I stumbled across a youtube video of a TEDx Talk from Toronto featuring Barbara Arrowsmith Young. I was originally just going to post this video to share but after watching it several times, there was so much value in her content that I could not let it go without discussing the importance of how she…

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