Invest in Your Professional Growth and Save
Exclusive offers for first-time registrants, loyal customers, group rates and bundled courses. Interested in hosting a CEU course? Train your team at a discounted rate while earning credits. Start saving today!
Live Webinar for Neonatal Therapists. Complete all three days for 12 Contact Hours (1.2 CEUs)
September 18 and 19, 2026
Children’s Health Specialty Center at Cityville Southwestern Medical District
Dallas, TX
8:30 am
EARLY BIRD RATE!
Register by August 7, 2026 to receive $20 off your registration. Enter coupon code EARLYBIRD20 at checkout to receive the discount. Must be used at time of registration.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Medically complex and extremely premature infants have a greater survivability rate with advances in maternal/fetal medicine and NICU medical technology. Effective developmental interventions require therapists to understand embryological, maturation, and developmental impacts of these medical conditions with adaptations to manual therapy techniques to improve alignment and movement for the infants. This course will build on information from Baby Beats and Breaths but could be a stand-alone course for the seasoned clinician. Evidence based literature will be provided on development of movement, manual therapy techniques to promote ribcage/abdominal, upper airway, and segmental trunk control as infant transition away from positioning devices and require activation of postural control muscles. Information will be shared on interventions for the medically complex infant requiring ECMO, CRRT, PD, and early mobilization techniques.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Identify the impact of prematurity on musculoskeletal development and maturation.
- Correlate the maturation of infant reflexes, synergies, and/or planes of movement to motor skill development in premature infants.
- Assess alignment of the infant spine during positioning and handling.
- Demonstrate handling techniques to support optimal alignment for segmental spinal positioning
- Adapt the environment and/or handling interventions to reduce stress cues during motor interventions.
- Choose appropriate positioning or environmental adaptations to facilitate improved participation with feeding, diapering, and/or movement to support play development.
AUDIENCE:
This course is recommended for neonatal therapists, PTs, PTAs, OTs, OTAs, and SLPs, working with infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
We’re excited to offer a variety of courses led by NICU expert, Holly Schifsky. Each course is comprehensive, can stand alone, and can be taken in any order based on your interests, needs and availability.
If you’re planning to attend multiple sessions with Holly, she suggests the following sequence as a helpful structure—if it aligns with your schedule.
Breathe, Baby Breathe (Live or On-Demand) and Infants with Cardiopulmonary Compromise (On-Demand Only) fit anywhere within the above sequence.
For even more of Holly’s expertise, see her session at the 2025 Birth to Three Annual Conference for NICU Graduates: The Impact of Prematurity and Prolonged Hospitalization on Early Infant Development.
Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS, has worked in pediatrics for the past 28 years with the past 17 years in a level IV NICU. She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, Certified Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist, Certified Brain Injury therapist, a member of National Association of Neonatal Therapists, and has completed 6-month mentorship in infant/child NDT.
She has worked within the NICU and NICU follow-up clinic to maximize patient and family outcomes for the most complex premature and medically-fragile term infants. Holly received her BS in OT from the University of North Dakota. She is a faculty member for the Neonatal Touch and Massage certification; and Manuel Edema Mobilization training. She is the recipient of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists Clinical Excellence award in 2018, due to her clinical expertise and dedication to advancing the therapeutic interventions for NICU infants with cardiopulmonary conditions.
Financial Disclosure: Holly Schifsky receives an honorarium from Education Resources, Inc.
Non-Financial Disclosure: Holly Schifsky has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.
VENUE ADDRESS
Children's Health Specialty Center at Cityville Southwestern Medical District
2222 Medical District Dr.
Dallas, TX 75235
Directions
VENUE LOCATION MAP
Click image to access Google Maps.
