NEW course: Post Concussion Syndrome

Education REsources Post Concussion SyndromeNew CEU Course for Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapist Assistants and Speech Therapists:

POST CONCUSSION SYNDROME

With distinguished speaker:
Christina Finn

This course will help clinicians apply the latest research on diagnosis and management of concussion and post concussion syndrome.  This course will focus on the latest relevant assessment and treatment strategies for adults and children with prolonged visual, vestibular and sensory complaints as a result of concussion.  Effective treatment strategies to improve visual skills, balance and sensory integration for optimal return to all daily tasks will be highlighted.  Participants will engage in clinical problem solving via group case analysis and discussion.

Age/Patient Population: This course is relevant for therapists working with individuals of all ages including school aged children, young adults, and older adults who may have sustained a concussion as a result of fall, MVA, sports injury, or accident.

Upon Completion of the Course, participants will be able to:

  • Apply current research to diagnosis and treatment of concussion and post concussion syndrome.
  • Determine when referral is indicated to address co-morbidities.
  • Assess visual function, balance and ability to participate in daily tasks (including cognitive).
  • Implement treatments to remediate oculomotor dysfunction, sensory integrative dysfunction and visual motor skills impairment.
  • Implement training techniques and compensatory strategies including cognitive strategies to help the patient transition back to work, school and daily tasks.

Please click here for dates and venues, to download a brochure or to register

 

 

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NEW Faculty Member – Christina Finn

Education Resources Christina Finn Christina Finn[/caption]

We are thrilled to introduce Christina Finn as a new member of Education Resources’ faculty.

Christina Finn MS, OTR/L is a clinical specialist in visual perceptual rehabilitation at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Medical Center in NYC and an adjunct professor at Long Island University in Brooklyn.  Christina graduated from the University of Scranton in 2004 with a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy.  She has advanced training in vision therapy and holds a certification in adult vestibular rehabilitation. Christina has experience in all areas of rehabilitation across the spectrum of care, including acute care, inpatient, and outpatient rehabilitation.  She lectures nationally on the topics of vision rehabilitation, perceptual rehabilitation, management of concussion, and neurological rehabilitation.  She has developed competencies for training staff in management of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury and for management of visual perceptual deficits. 

Christina Course:
Post Concussion Syndrome

 

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Help needed from pediatric PT’s and OT’s! Positioning for a complex 13 month old.

DEAR ERI COMMUNITY:

Posting from Megan:

Hi folks!
I am hoping to start a brainstorm thread for a really complicated kid I have picked up.
He 13 month old boy, one of triplets – his identical brother did not survive and there was twin-to-twin transfusion resulting in my guy losing most of his frontal lobe. He is a very involved kid. The biggest concern at this point is that he needs to be held – practically all the time, even asleep – because if he is not held in a tight “clamshell” he goes into extreme extensor tone and screams and cries. He can tolerate his belly on a rigged up cushion from an OT for about 30 seconds. I have been brainstorming a list of things to try with him but would love any ideas.
His positioning when he is comfortable is sitting on mom’s leg, hips and knees flexed, spine kyphotic except cervical spine hyper extended (strangely he has pretty good head control) but this cervical posture is concerning in the long term. He hates any pressure on the back of his head that would bring his spine into better alignment.
Basically the family is looking for something that will hold him in his comfortable position without their hands.
My thoughts to try:
Theratogs
Full seating/positioning eval with a very skilled vendor
Stander? He would need AFOs
He is getting started with Perkins (MA school for the blind)- maybe they could build him a chair that would work??
Togrite to hold him in the clamshell on his side on floor (OT gave them a gait belt to try for this, didn’t work)
Nada chair?
They have a clamshell seat thing – maybe was some kind of stadium seat – which has been a little bit useful inside a baby hammock – but he still extends out of it. Thought about drilling holes in it for belt at key points of pelvis to keep him in it.

Any other thoughts and suggestions, things you’ve tried or found helpful for a very involved kid like this would be fantastic! Thank you! 

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Whats on the horizon for stroke rehab?

Researchers at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center may have found a way to help prep a stroke victim’s brain prior to physical therapy to aid a more complete recovery. A non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS,  prepares a stroke patient’s brain for physical therapy by sending low-frequency magnetic pulses painlessly through a victim’s scalp to suppress activity in the healthy part of the motor cortex. This allows the injured side to make use of more energy during physical therapy, which immediately follows the TMS.

Please click here for the full article found in the Washington Post

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