Leckey Blog

Breaking the cycle of asymmetries using 24-hour postural management

For those of us who work with children with disabilities, we seem to intuitively know that if the child stays in one position too long, then the body will take the "shape" of that position, and if the position is not in good alignment, the child will begin to develop postural asymmetries. So, we try to create a program that offers alternative positioning throughout the day while supporting the child to prevent asymmetries.

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Pros & Cons To Common Approaches To Toilet Training

When it comes to children with additional needs, toilet training can understandably get pushed down the priority list, but the earlier you can make a start, the easier it will be.

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MyWay Pedal and Guidelines For Exercise

The recent publication in the UK of the first activity guidelines for children and young people with disabilities, got me thinking: how do we encourage children to achieve the recommended 120-180 minutes of physical activity per week?

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8 Exercises That Can Help To Manage Constipation

23 February 2022

Even with a varied diet, children with limited mobility can still get constipated. Less movement means that the bowels work less effectively, but research shows that some stretching exercises can help reduce constipation (Awan & Masood, 2016).

If you are on a toileting journey with your child, these eight stretches are a great place to start to help manage constipation. You should aim to hold each stretch for 30 seconds, and repeat 2-3 times. 

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10 years on from the F-words: Thoughts on the latest research in this field

A recent paper from CanChild has reignited a discussion among the Leckey clinical team – one which I’m sure is familiar to many therapists – how to apply the ICF-CY in everyday practice? The paper, ‘Parenting a Child with a Neurodevelopmental Disorder’ (Rosenbaum and Novak-Palik, 2021) explores the transformative effect that the ICF-CY framework and the F-words have had on childhood disability.  It looks beyond the diagnosis and ‘fixing’ the child through intervention, to understanding the importance of parent perspectives and the role of the family unit as essential elements in paediatric development.

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How to improve sitting posture – ideas to support a neutral pelvis

For many therapists, it is incredibly frustrating when, after providing a productive therapy session, we set up a child with non-typical development in "optimal" sitting posture only to find shortly after that the child looks nothing like how they were first positioned. The pelvis begins to tilt posteriorly, the child slides forward in their seat, the trunk starts to round out (causing thoracic kyphosis), the cervical spine is hyperextended, and the chin pokes forward. Eventually, the child's caregiver or teacher brings the child back to therapy and asks us, the therapists, to "fix" the seating system.

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