Designing effective treatment programs to improve strength, endurance and function in children with disabilities and chronic conditions can be enormously challenging. This course will help clinicians set realistic goals, prioritize treatment and implement successful programs for children with a variety of diagnoses including:
cerebral palsy
autism
developmental coordination disorder
obesity
An evidence based approach to outcome measures and intervention design will be discussed including frequency, intensity, duration and types of interventions to improve strength and function. Participants will observe and practice some of these measurement and intervention techniques during short demonstration sessions and case studies.Specific intervention activities will be discussed such as strategies to enhance strength, flexibility, endurance and function such as progressive resistive exercises, resistance bands, treadmill training, therapeutic ball exercises, aquatic exercise, structured play and yoga. Evidence on the effectiveness of existing communitybased programs and resources to improve physical activity, strength and endurance in children will be discussed.