Date of Award:

12-2012

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Special Education and Rehabilitation

Committee Chair(s)

Judith Holt (Committee Co-Chair), Charles Salzberg (Committee Co-Chair)

Committee

Judith Holt

Committee

Charles Salzberg

Committee

Timothy Slocum

Committee

Sarah Rule

Committee

Sarah Bloom

Abstract

The Pediatric Section of the American Physical Therapy Association determined that dosing of treatments for children with cerebral palsy (CP) was a priority topic for research funding in 2013. Pediatric physical therapists currently have very little information about the best duration for treatment. Research that could answer the question "How long should my child's treatment last?" would be of interest to families of children with CP and their physical therapists.

A type of resistive exercise called plyometric exercise was used as a treatment for three children with cerebral palsy. This study used a design called single subject that allowed the program to continue until improvement plateaued. It also allowed all children who enrolled in the study to receive the treatment. The children in the study had difficulty in performing gross motor skills consistently. For example, one day they would throw a ball 550 centimeters, and the next 650 centimeters. They became more consistent in achieving their best effort, or throwing the ball 650 centimeters every time. If they already had good consistency, then they made changes in the distance they could throw. For example, by the end of treatment they would be able to throw 700 centimeters several days in a row.

However, we found that there was no optimum treatment length. The first child plateaued in 8 weeks, the second in 14 weeks, and the third in 91/2 weeks. In summary, the length of treatment needs to be individualized for each child. Duration should be determined by monitoring the child's progress each session and treatment should be continued until the child reaches a plateau or fails to respond to treatment.

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