Congratulations to all the recent grads…. and soon to be grads.
We would like to help you plan for your future continuing education. We offer CEU courses for PT’s, OT’s and SLP’s in a full range of specialties: Pediatrics, Special Education, Adult/Geriatric Rehab., Feeding, Acute Care, NICU, Home Care, and many more.
For all those joining our mailing list, you will be entered to win free tuition toward an ERI CEU course. A random drawing will be taken in May.
Please feel free to post any thoughts and comments below; ideas for future courses, topics, future speakers. We look forward to welcoming you to our ERI community.
We are fine tuning our agenda for this years Therapies in the School conference in Massachusetts and would value your input.
Based on feedback from last years popular conference we are excited to announce that we will have sessions on evidence based strategies, tests and measures, Brain Gym ®, practical applications of neuroscience, balance and autism, collaborative approaches and new mandates and much more!
We are continuing to build our course schedule for 2013, and would like to bring you material that would be most applicable to your daily practice.
We do have a few speaking slots open and we want to be able to meet your needs.
Are there any specific speakers who you would love to hear?
Are there any specific topics that you would like to see covered?
In a session focusing on “The iPad: Newest Apps”, would you prefer to have it focus on:
The iPad as a writing tool
Tips and Tricks
Switch access/positioning/access options
The iPad as an Augmentative Communication Device (access and communication)
Please list other technology topics
Would you be interested in a session on collaborative approaches in addressing wellness at school?
New Research: A study recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, found differences in white matter tract development in the brains of Autistic children as young as 6 months of age. This study was an international collaborative effort following hundreds of babies over several years. Not only did MRIs reveal this disparity in the white matter, but they also revealed larger head circumference.
What does this mean? Well for starters they may now be able to diagnose Autism much earlier leading to earlier intervention. Also, the MRI scans may be able to tell us what part of the child’s brain is being affected so that therapy can be tailored accordingly.
Previously physicians had to rely solely on clinical exam and behavioral reports in order to diagnose Autism. Now we may have data for a more definitive diagnosis leading to better outcomes.
As for the cause of Autism and a cure? Well, that’s still up in the air. But, researchers feel as though they are getting closer.
We posted a clinical case study a few weeks ago and had some great responses. We wanted to share one comment from our distinguished faculty member; Barbara Hypes
Alyssa Posts: DEAR ERI COMMUNITY: Hello! I am a pediatric physical therapist (Early Intervention) currently struggling with a little girl (19 months old); significant hypotonia, NO head control, dislocating joints (elbows, shoulders, hips and knees), joint contractures in lower extremities, minimal movement, can roll to her side, no other gross developmental milestones met, bright girl, tracking, babbling and responding to her name and to simple verbal requests with vision and limited upper extremity movements in a supine position or supported in her xpanda chair. Has seen multiple specialists on the east coast and all are scratching their heads. MD has been ruled out, SMA ruled out. Is feeding via g-tube but has nice oral motor munching patterns and drinks from a straw. Thoughts on activities for promoting more head control or muscle activation. Cannot stress this enough, NO head control at this point. Have used a Hensinger, Miami J, and DMO suit to supplement supported sitting activities.
The biggest mistake I observe is that people try to promote head lifting without attending to shoulder girdle stability and alignment in the shoulders and neck. In therapy I would attend to alignment and promote activity in the upper trunk and shoulder girdles. In regards to head lifting, I encourage therapist and parents to think about “making the child’s head weigh less”. When the head is supported there is no “traction” or pulling, instead the weight of the head is partially supported by the adult helping the child activate what they can without being overwhelmed by the mass of the inactive head. This can lead to active assisted recruiting and the therapist needs to observe what responses the child can elicit and build on his/her control by tweaking the provided support. I also support the idea of bracing and am encouraged to discover how open you are to adaptive equipment. But, this won’t necessarily lead to control and might lead to greater compensations so my overall goal is MAXIMUM FUNCTION WITH MINIMAL PATHOLOGY THROUGHOUT LIFE. I too would strongly encourage parents to continue to pursue a diagnosis. Have mitochondrial issues been explored? Genetic testing? Barbara
We are pleased to offer Barbara’s Courses:
Improving Function in Pediatrics using the Therapy Ball
Medicare coverage for therapy for people with chronic health problems and disabilities will no longer end when they don’t “progress”, as long as a doctor deems it medically necessary.
A class-action lawsuit brought by the Center for Medicare Advocacy and Vermont Legal Aid on behalf of four Medicare patients and five national organizations brought this issue to light and was settled in January, 2013.
This ruling covers Medicare patients with chronic health problems and disabilities like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, MS, and SCI etc. who are home-bound or in a nursing home. The hope is that it will delay costly nursing home admissions by enabling seniors to live longer in their own homes. In nursing homes, the duration of therapy is still limited to up to 100 days per “benefit period”, and they still have to spend at least three days as an inpatient in a hospital.
The Medicare limits before the exceptions were $1900 for each of the therapies (PT, OT and SLP). Beneficiaries also often lose Medicare coverage for outpatient therapy when they hit this payment limit. But under the exceptions process Congress continued for another year, the health care provider can put an additional code on the claim that indicates further treatment above the $1900 limit is medically necessary. After $3700, the provider can submit more documentation to request another exception for 20 more sessions.
Therapists: we’d love to hear your reaction to this new ruling. Tell us about some of your patients and how this will help them maintain their function!
]]>
Join Our Mailing List
Join our community to receive CEU course information to meet your professional development goals, hear the latest therapy tips, treatment ideas and connect with other therapists.
