Moving Forward: Cadabam's Pediatric Physiotherapy Support for ADHD

Why Consider Cadabam’s Pediatric Physiotherapy for Your Child with ADHD?

When motor challenges accompany ADHD, seeking specialized physiotherapy is a proactive step towards supporting your child's overall development. Choosing Cadabam’s CDC for Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD provides several key benefits:

• Specialized Pediatric Expertise: Our Physiotherapists (PTs) hold advanced degrees (such as Doctor of Physical Therapy - DPT) and possess specialized training and certifications in pediatrics (e.g., Pediatric Clinical Specialist - PCS). They have a deep understanding of typical and atypical motor development and specific experience working with children with neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD.
• Focus on Functional Movement: Our primary goal is to improve your child's ability to participate fully and successfully in age-appropriate activities that involve movement – playing on the playground, participating in physical education and sports, navigating their environment safely, and developing overall physical confidence. Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD is inherently functional.
• Assessment and Treatment of Co-occurring Motor Issues: Our PTs are skilled in identifying and addressing common motor difficulties often seen alongside ADHD, such as traits of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), balance deficits, or delays in gross motor skills. We address the specific role of pediatric physiotherapy in addressing motor delays associated with ADHD .
• Play-Based and Engaging Therapy Sessions: We know that children, especially those with ADHD, learn best when they are motivated and engaged. Our pediatric physiotherapy sessions incorporate fun, play-based activities and therapeutic exercises designed to be challenging yet achievable, maximizing participation and enjoyment.
• Holistic View of Movement and Regulation: Our PTs understand the intricate link between movement, body awareness, and self-regulation. They consider using physiotherapy to support body awareness and regulation in ADHD by incorporating activities that provide targeted sensory input through movement.
• Collaborative Care within a Multidisciplinary Team: We believe in integrated care. Our PTs work closely with Occupational Therapists (OTs), Psychologists, Psychiatrists, parents, and educators within the Cadabam’s network to ensure physiotherapy goals align with and support the child's overall treatment plan.

Engaging with Cadabam’s Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD means accessing expert care focused on enhancing your child's physical capabilities, confidence, and participation through evidence-informed, engaging therapeutic interventions.

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Finding Stability: Improving coordination and balance in ADHD with pediatric physiotherapy

Challenges with coordination and balance are surprisingly common among children with ADHD, sometimes referred to casually as 'clumsiness' or potentially indicating traits of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). These difficulties can impact everything from playground safety to participation in sports. Improving coordination and balance in ADHD with pediatric physiotherapy is a core focus area for our PTs.

Defining Coordination and Balance:

• Coordination: The ability to use different parts of the body together smoothly, efficiently, and accurately to perform motor tasks. This includes eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination (using both sides of the body together), and sequencing movements.
• Balance: The ability to maintain the body's center of mass over its base of support, both when stationary (static balance) and while moving (dynamic balance).

The Link Between Motor Control and ADHD:

• Research indicates a higher prevalence of motor coordination difficulties and DCD traits in children diagnosed with ADHD compared to their peers.
• Poor coordination and balance can lead to:
  • Difficulty learning and participating in age-appropriate sports and physical activities (e.g., riding a bike, swimming, team sports).
  • Increased risk of trips and falls during play or daily activities.
  • Hesitancy or avoidance of physical challenges, potentially impacting social interaction on the playground.
  • Frustration and reduced self-confidence related to physical abilities.

How Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD Helps Improve Coordination and Balance:

PTs use targeted assessment and intervention strategies:

1. Comprehensive Assessment:
   • Utilizing standardized motor proficiency tests (like relevant subtests from the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency - BOT-2 or the Movement Assessment Battery for Children - MABC) to objectively measure coordination and balance skills compared to age norms.
   • Conducting specific clinical tests of static balance (e.g., single-leg stance time) and dynamic balance (e.g., walking on a line, tandem walking).
   • Observing the quality of movement during functional activities (running, jumping, navigating obstacles).
2. Targeted Therapeutic Exercises and Activities:
   • Balance Challenges: Progressively difficult activities like walking on balance beams (various widths, directions), standing/hopping on one leg, balancing on unstable surfaces (foam pads, balance discs), reaching outside the base of support.
   • Coordination Tasks: Obstacle courses requiring sequencing movements (climbing over, crawling under, stepping through), activities involving bilateral coordination (jumping jacks, catching large balls with both hands, drumming), eye-hand coordination drills (throwing at targets, balloon toss), and activities requiring timing and rhythm.
   • Core Strengthening: Exercises targeting abdominal and back muscles (planks, bridges, exercises on therapy balls) are crucial, as core stability provides a foundation for better balance and limb coordination.
   • Proprioceptive Activities: Exercises that provide strong feedback to muscles and joints (see Section VII) often indirectly support balance by improving body awareness.

By systematically challenging and practicing these skills through engaging pediatric physiotherapy activities, children with ADHD can make significant gains in their coordination and balance, leading to safer movement, increased participation in physical activities, and enhanced overall confidence. Improving coordination and balance in ADHD with pediatric physiotherapy is key for many children.

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Catching Up and Moving On: Role of pediatric physiotherapy in addressing motor delays associated with ADHD

While ADHD itself doesn't directly cause motor delays, a subset of children with ADHD may also experience delays in achieving expected gross motor milestones. Understanding the Role of pediatric physiotherapy in addressing motor delays associated with ADHD highlights how PTs help children build foundational movement skills.

Defining Gross Motor Delays: This refers to a significant lag in acquiring fundamental movement skills involving large muscle groups compared to established developmental norms. Examples include delays in:

• Walking, running with coordination.
• Jumping, hopping, skipping.
• Climbing stairs.
• Throwing, catching, or kicking a ball with age-appropriate form.

Potential Reasons for Co-occurrence:

• Shared Neurological Factors: Some underlying differences in brain development or function might contribute to both ADHD symptoms and motor difficulties.
• Reduced Practice Opportunities: Children with ADHD who are more impulsive or have poorer coordination might have engaged less in typical motor play, leading to less practice.
• Lower Motor Confidence: Early difficulties might lead to avoidance of physical challenges, further limiting skill development.
• Co-existing Conditions: Motor delays might be part of a co-occurring condition like Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).

The Role of Pediatric Physiotherapy in Addressing Motor Delays Associated with ADHD:

1. Thorough Assessment:
   • Using standardized developmental assessments (e.g., Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, specific subtests of BOT-2/MABC) to pinpoint specific areas of gross motor delay and quantify the extent of the delay compared to age-matched peers.
   • Analyzing the quality of movement to identify underlying weaknesses (e.g., poor strength, inadequate balance, inefficient motor planning).
2. Targeted Skill Building Through Play:
   • Task Analysis: Breaking down complex delayed skills (like skipping or throwing) into their essential component movements.
   • Structured Practice: Designing fun, motivating activities and games that specifically practice these component parts and then integrate them into the whole skill (e.g., practicing weight shifting and arm swing before teaching throwing; hopping on one foot before attempting skipping).
   • Motor Learning Principles: Utilizing principles like providing clear demonstrations, offering appropriate feedback (verbal, visual, tactile), and structuring practice schedules (amount, variability) to optimize learning.
3. Addressing Foundational Components:
   • Strength and Endurance Training: Incorporating age-appropriate exercises to build muscle strength (especially core and legs) and cardiovascular endurance needed to support gross motor skills. Examples include animal walks, climbing activities, running games.
   • Balance and Coordination Training: Addressing underlying balance and coordination deficits (as outlined in Section III) that may be contributing to the delay in more complex skills.

The goal of Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD in this context is not just to help the child "catch up" on milestones, but to build a solid foundation of gross motor competence that supports participation in play, sports, and school activities, ultimately boosting confidence and overall physical well-being.

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Action-Packed Therapy: Pediatric physiotherapy exercises for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement

Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD is far from passive; it's an active process centered around engaging movement and therapeutic exercise. Utilizing specific, targeted pediatric physiotherapy exercises for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement helps children build strength, coordination, balance, and overall physical competence in a fun and motivating way.

Focusing on Gross Motor Skills: These are movements that utilize the large muscle groups of the body for activities like walking, running, jumping, climbing, throwing, and balancing. Developing these skills is crucial for:

• Physical Health and Fitness: Building strength, endurance, and cardiovascular health.
• Participation: Enabling engagement in playground games, physical education classes, sports, and recreational activities.
• Confidence and Self-Esteem: Success in physical tasks builds body confidence.
• Potential Regulation Benefits: Physical activity can serve as an important outlet for excess energy and support self-regulation .

Examples of Pediatric Physiotherapy Exercises and Activities for ADHD Gross Motor Skill Enhancement:

Therapy sessions are tailored to the child's individual goals and abilities, often incorporating:

• Obstacle Courses: A versatile and highly motivating activity. Courses can be designed to target multiple skills:
  • Balance: Walking on beams, stepping stones, uneven surfaces.
  • Coordination: Crawling through tunnels, stepping over hurdles, weaving around cones.
  • Strength: Climbing small structures, pushing/pulling objects.
  • Motor Planning: Navigating novel sequences and challenges.
• Ball Skills Activities:
  • Catching/Throwing: Using various sizes/weights of balls, throwing at targets, playing catch with the therapist or peers – targets eye-hand coordination, timing, force modulation, bilateral coordination.
  • Kicking: Kicking stationary or moving balls towards goals – targets eye-foot coordination, balance, force modulation.
• Agility and Locomotor Drills:
  • Running: Practicing running short distances, changing directions, running in pathways.
  • Jumping: Jumping over objects, jumping onto/off surfaces, jumping for distance/height, practicing different types of jumps (two feet, one foot).
  • Hopping/Skipping/Galloping: Specific drills focusing on rhythm, coordination, and single-leg balance required for these more complex skills.
• Animal Walks and Movement Imitation:
  • Activities like bear walks, crab walks, frog jumps build upper body/core strength, coordination, and body awareness in a playful context.
  • Games like "Simon Says" incorporating motor commands challenge listening, body awareness, and motor execution.
• Core Stability and Strengthening Exercises:
  • Often incorporated playfully: holding "superman" poses, plank variations, bridging exercises, sitting/kneeling on therapy balls while doing other tasks, wheelbarrow walks. A strong core is foundational for almost all gross motor skills.
• Balance Activities (as detailed in Section III): Balance beam work, single-leg stance games, yoga poses adapted for kids.

Key Therapeutic Elements:

• Goal-Directed: Exercises are chosen specifically to address the child's assessed weaknesses and work towards functional goals.
• "Just Right Challenge": Activities are graded to be challenging enough to promote skill development but not so difficult as to cause excessive frustration.
• Fun and Motivation: Incorporating games, themes, and positive reinforcement keeps children engaged, especially important for sustaining effort with ADHD.
• Repetition with Variation: Providing sufficient practice opportunities while varying aspects of the task to promote generalization and motor learning.

These dynamic pediatric physiotherapy exercises form the core of intervention for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement, helping children build physical competence and confidence through movement.

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Planning the Path of Motion: How physiotherapy helps with motor planning (praxis) challenges in ADHD

Motor planning, also known as praxis, is the brain's ability to conceive, plan, sequence, and execute unfamiliar or complex motor actions. It's the 'thinking' part of moving. While distinct from core ADHD symptoms, some individuals with ADHD also exhibit difficulties with motor planning. Understanding how physiotherapy helps with motor planning (praxis) challenges in ADHD reveals another layer of PT support.

Defining Motor Planning (Praxis) Challenges: Difficulties in praxis can manifest as:

• Appearing generally 'clumsy' or awkward, especially when learning new skills.
• Struggling to learn multi-step motor sequences (e.g., dance steps, specific sports drills, tying shoelaces, using certain tools).
• Taking longer than peers to learn new physical games or activities.
• Difficulty imitating actions accurately.
• Appearing hesitant or inefficient when trying novel movements.
• Trouble adapting movements to changing environmental demands.

Potential Link to ADHD: The exact relationship isn't fully understood, but difficulties might relate to:

• Overlapping executive function deficits (planning, sequencing, working memory applied to movement).
• Underlying differences in sensory processing (proprioceptive, vestibular) impacting feedback needed for planning.
• Potential shared neurological pathways affecting both attention/inhibition and motor control networks.

Physiotherapy Strategies for Supporting Motor Planning (Praxis) in ADHD:

PTs facilitate motor learning and improve praxis through structured guidance and practice:

1. Task Analysis:
   • Breaking down complex, novel motor tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. This reduces the planning load.
   • Example: Learning to serve a volleyball might be broken into stance, toss, arm swing, contact, follow-through.
2. Verbal Cues and Self-Talk:
   • Providing concise verbal instructions for each step of a motor sequence.
   • Encouraging the child to use self-talk ("Step, swing, hit") to guide their own movements, enhancing internal planning.
3. Visual Supports and Demonstration (Modeling):
   • Clearly demonstrating the desired movement sequence.
   • Using pictures, diagrams, or video modeling to provide a visual blueprint for the action.
4. Repetition and Practice:
   • Providing ample opportunities to practice the new motor plan in a supportive environment.
   • Starting with blocked practice (repeating the same skill) and gradually moving towards variable practice (mixing skills or contexts) to improve adaptability.
5. Feedback:
   • Providing specific, constructive feedback on performance (e.g., "Try bringing your arm back further next time") to help refine the motor plan. Both intrinsic (body) and extrinsic (therapist) feedback are utilized.
6. Problem-Solving and Discovery Learning:
   • Guiding the child to figure out how to approach a motor challenge rather than just telling them. Asking questions like, "What could you try differently?" encourages active planning.
7. Backward Chaining:
   • Teaching the last step of a sequence first, then the second-to-last, and so on. Useful for tasks where completing the final step is highly reinforcing (e.g., putting the last piece in a puzzle).

By providing structure, breaking down complexity, offering clear guidance, and facilitating practice, pediatric physiotherapy effectively helps children with ADHD improve their ability to learn and execute new and complex motor actions, enhancing their participation in a wider range of activities. Addressing motor planning (praxis) challenges is an important aspect of comprehensive Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD.

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Connecting Mind and Body: Using physiotherapy to support body awareness and regulation in ADHD

While Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD primarily targets motor skills, the way therapy is delivered often incorporates principles that enhance body awareness and can contribute positively to self-regulation. Understanding how PT facilitates using physiotherapy to support body awareness and regulation in ADHD adds another dimension to its benefits.

Defining Body Awareness:

• Proprioception: The unconscious sense, coming from receptors in muscles and joints, that tells us where our body parts are in space without looking. It's crucial for smooth, coordinated movement and feeling "grounded."
• Vestibular Sense: The sense of movement, gravity, and head position, originating in the inner ear. It's fundamental for balance, spatial orientation, and maintaining an appropriate level of alertness.
• Interoception: The sense of the internal state of the body (e.g., heart rate, breathing, hunger, feeling tense or calm).

Some individuals with ADHD may have less efficient processing of proprioceptive or vestibular input, or reduced interoceptive awareness, which can contribute to fidgeting (seeking input), clumsiness (poor awareness), or difficulty recognizing and managing arousal levels.

How Pediatric Physiotherapy Enhances Body Awareness:

PT activities naturally provide rich sensory input through movement:

• Targeted Proprioceptive Input ("Heavy Work"): Many PT exercises involve pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, jumping, or providing resistance. These activities send strong signals to the muscles and joints.
  • Examples: Animal walks, wheelbarrow races, pushing weighted balls, climbing, jumping on a mini-trampoline, resistance band exercises. This input can be organizing and calming for some, and help improve awareness of body position.
• Structured Vestibular Input: Activities are carefully chosen to challenge the vestibular system in controlled ways to improve balance and spatial orientation.
  • Examples: Swinging (linear is often more organizing), gentle spinning (used cautiously and monitored), balancing on various surfaces, rolling activities, scooter board use.
• Focus on Movement Quality: PT encourages mindful movement, focusing on how the body is moving, which requires attending to bodily sensations, thus enhancing proprioceptive awareness.

The Link Between Body Awareness and Regulation:

• Improved Recognition of Internal State: Enhanced proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness can help children better recognize signs of restlessness, fatigue, or increasing arousal before they become overwhelmed or overly hyperactive.
• Using Movement for Modulation: PT helps children experience how different types of movement affect their alertness and energy levels. They can learn (often guided by the PT and potentially OT) to proactively use specific movement strategies (like a quick "heavy work" break or a moment of stillness/deep pressure) to help modulate their arousal state – to calm down when overexcited or energized when feeling sluggish.
• "Grounding" Effect: Proprioceptive input, in particular, can have a grounding and organizing effect on the nervous system, potentially reducing feelings of restlessness or anxiety for some individuals.

Distinction from OT's Sensory Integration: While both PT and OT address sensory processing, their focus differs:

• OT: Often takes a broader approach, assessing multiple sensory systems (touch, sound, sight etc.) and developing comprehensive "sensory diets" and environmental modifications to support regulation across various contexts. May use specialized Sensory Integration techniques if certified. [Occupational Therapy for ADHD]
• PT: Focuses primarily on enhancing body awareness and supporting regulation through the lens of therapeutic exercise and movement. Uses proprioceptive and vestibular input derived largely from gross motor activities designed to also improve strength, balance, and coordination.

Using physiotherapy to support body awareness and regulation in ADHD is often a valuable secondary benefit of engaging in targeted motor skill therapy, adding to the overall positive impact of Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD.

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The Physiotherapy Process at Cadabam's

When you engage with Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD at Cadabam’s CDC, you can expect a structured, goal-oriented process tailored to your child's specific motor needs:

1. Referral and Initial Consultation:
   • Referrals may come from physicians, psychologists, OTs, schools, or parents themselves who have noticed motor difficulties.
   • The initial consultation involves discussing concerns about coordination, balance, gross motor skills, activity levels, participation in physical activities, and how these impact daily life. Preliminary goals are explored.
2. Comprehensive Physiotherapy Assessment:
   • The PT conducts a thorough evaluation, which may include:
     • Standardized Motor Skills Tests: Using assessments like the BOT-2 or MABC to objectively measure gross motor skills (running, jumping, throwing, catching), balance, bilateral coordination, and strength compared to age norms.
     • Movement Analysis: Observing the quality of movement during specific tasks and functional activities (e.g., walking gait, running form, climbing stairs).
     • Postural Assessment: Evaluating alignment, stability, and core muscle control.
     • Muscle Strength and Endurance Testing: Assessing key muscle groups relevant to gross motor function.
     • Balance Testing: Specific measures of static and dynamic balance.
     • Clinical Observations: Noting motor planning abilities, body awareness, and general activity level during the assessment.
3. Collaborative Goal Setting:
   • Based on assessment findings and family priorities, the PT works with the child (age-appropriately) and parents to set meaningful, functional goals.
   • Goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
   • Examples: "By [date], Maya will be able to hop on one foot 10 consecutive times," "By [date], Rohan will demonstrate improved balance by walking heel-toe on a line for 10 feet without stepping off," "By [date], Sam will participate in a non-competitive team sport activity for 20 minutes."
4. Individualized Intervention Sessions:
   • Therapy typically involves one-on-one sessions focused on achieving the established goals.
   • Sessions are active and incorporate pediatric physiotherapy exercises for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement through play-based activities, obstacle courses, games, and specific therapeutic exercises targeting strength, balance, coordination, and motor planning .
   • Strategies may also incorporate elements supporting body awareness and regulation .
5. Home Exercise Program (HEP):
   • The PT provides specific activities and exercises for the child to practice regularly at home between sessions. Parental involvement in supporting the HEP is often crucial for progress.
6. Progress Monitoring and Re-evaluation:
   • The PT continually monitors the child's progress towards goals through observation and periodic re-testing of specific skills.
   • The treatment plan is adjusted based on progress. Formal re-evaluations are conducted periodically to measure gains and update or discharge goals.
7. Collaboration: Regular communication with parents and, with consent, other team members (teachers, OTs, psychologists) ensures strategies are consistent and support overall development.

This comprehensive process ensures that Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD at Cadabam's is targeted, effective, and focused on helping children achieve their full movement potential.

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Meet Our Cadabam's Pediatric Physiotherapy Team

Expert Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD requires therapists with specialized knowledge in both child development and movement science, particularly within the context of neurodevelopmental conditions. At Cadabam’s CDC, our Physiotherapy team is highly qualified to provide this specialized care:

• Advanced Credentials: Our Physiotherapists hold professional degrees in Physical Therapy, often the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). They are licensed to practice physiotherapy in the relevant region.
• Pediatric Specialization: Many team members have pursued advanced certification as a Pediatric Clinical Specialist (PCS) through relevant professional bodies (like the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties), signifying a high level of expertise in pediatric PT.
• Experience with Neurodevelopmental Conditions: Our PTs have specific clinical experience working with children who have ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and other conditions affecting motor development. They understand the common motor profiles and comorbid challenges.
• Training in Specific Techniques: They are skilled in utilizing various evidence-based approaches, including therapeutic exercise prescription for children, motor learning principles, balance and coordination training techniques, and activities promoting body awareness and regulation through movement.
• Play-Based Approach: Our team excels at designing creative, engaging, and fun therapy sessions that motivate children, incorporating play into pediatric physiotherapy exercises for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement .
• Commitment to Collaboration: They are integral members of the Cadabam's multidisciplinary team, valuing communication and collaboration with families, schools, OTs, SLPs, and psychologists to ensure holistic care.

Expert Insights – The PT Perspective:

• Quote 1 (Cadabam's PT, DPT, PCS): "Improving coordination and balance in ADHD with pediatric physiotherapy often involves breaking skills down and building core stability. It's amazing to see a child gain the confidence to finally join in playground games after working on these foundational skills."
• Quote 2 (Cadabam's PT, DPT): "We frequently encounter motor delays associated with ADHD . Our role is crucial – identifying those specific gaps through assessment and then using targeted, playful pediatric physiotherapy exercises to help them catch up and build competence."
• Quote 3 (Cadabam's PT): "While OT might focus broadly on sensory diets, therapeutic movement in physiotherapy absolutely helps support body awareness and regulation in ADHD . Activities providing strong proprioceptive or controlled vestibular input can be very organizing for many kids."

Trust Cadabam's expert Pediatric Physiotherapy team to provide skilled, compassionate, and effective therapy focused on improving movement, participation, and confidence for children with ADHD and co-occurring motor challenges.

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Success Stories: Gains in Movement and Confidence

Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD can lead to significant improvements in a child's physical abilities, confidence, and participation in everyday activities. These anonymized examples illustrate the positive outcomes achieved at Cadabam's CDC:

• Case Study 1: Mastering the Bike Ride

  • Challenge: Ten-year-old David, diagnosed with ADHD and exhibiting DCD traits, desperately wanted to ride a two-wheeler bike like his friends but struggled significantly with balance and coordinating pedaling and steering. He needed help Improving coordination and balance and motor planning (praxis) .
  • Intervention: David's PT program focused on dynamic balance activities (balance board, single-leg activities), core strengthening exercises, and breaking down the motor plan of bike riding. They practiced steering, balancing on gliders, and initiating pedaling in a structured, supportive environment.
  • Outcome: After several months of consistent pediatric physiotherapy, David successfully learned to ride his bike independently. This not only improved his physical skills but dramatically boosted his self-esteem and allowed him to join his friends on bike rides.

• Case Study 2: Succeeding in Gym Class

  • Challenge: Six-year-old Chloe avoided participating in P.E. class due to difficulty keeping up with running activities and struggling with skills like jumping and hopping. Assessment revealed motor delays associated with ADHD in these areas and lower endurance.
  • Intervention: Chloe's PT sessions focused on fun pediatric physiotherapy exercises for ADHD gross motor skill enhancement , including obstacle courses with jumping elements, running games to build endurance, hopping drills set to music, and specific practice of P.E.-related skills like catching a large ball.
  • Outcome: Chloe's running speed, jumping ability, and overall endurance improved significantly. She began participating more willingly and successfully in P.E., interacting more positively with peers during physical activities.

• Case Study 3: Finding Calm Through Movement

  • Challenge: Nine-year-old Liam had significant difficulty sitting still in class, constantly fidgeting and often needing to get up and move. His parents and teacher sought strategies for better regulation. The goal involved using physiotherapy to support body awareness and regulation in ADHD .
  • Intervention: Liam's PT sessions included activities providing strong proprioceptive input ('heavy work') like pushing weighted carts, wall pushes, and structured jumping breaks. The PT also worked on activities enhancing body awareness and taught Liam and his parents how to incorporate short movement breaks into his daily routine.
  • Outcome: Liam learned to recognize his need for movement more effectively. Implementing scheduled 'heavy work' breaks at school and home helped him feel more organized and less restless, leading to improved focus during seated tasks, as reported by his teacher.

These stories demonstrate how Pediatric Physiotherapy for ADHD targets specific physical challenges, leading to enhanced function, participation, and well-being.