Course Level

Intermediate

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Audience 

OT, PT, SLP, educators, music therapists, play therapists, parents and interested others

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Course Description

Gravity influences infant development in many ways, from triggering vestibular processing to developing and strengthening muscles that enable humans to gain and maintain upright posture. This course will evaluate a number of factors impacting antigravity development that affect performance in sensory processing and modulation, sensory motor functioning and psychosocial behavior throughout the age span. Obstacles to typical development and indicators of delays and/or atypical function in the particular areas of core strength, proximal stability and motor coordination essential for life skills will be discussed.

 

Along with other treatment strategies, gravity can be used by therapists to enhance development, especially in the areas of sensory motor processing, antigravity motor control and motor coordination. A variety of intervention strategies that engage vestibular mechanisms and take advantage of gravitational influences, including some innovative equipment will be demonstrated via participant labs and video examples.

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Agenda

(5.25 contact hours)

Module 1: Role of Gravity in Human Development (56:20)

Module 2: Clinical Indicators of Gravity Dysfunction – Ages & Stages (34:10)

Module 3: Basic Elements of Treatment (27:18)

Module 4-1: Floor Lab-Activities in Prone (38:05)

Module 4-2: Floor Lab-Activities in Supine & Rolling (37:56)

Module 5: Clinical Reasoning in Treatment (58:11)

Module 6-3: Floor Activities in Creeping (25:03)

Module 6-4: Floor Activities in Sitting/Course Summary (31:46)

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Course Objectives

1. Evaluate the role that gravity plays in typical infant development.

2. Analyze the ways that positioning and other environmental influences can obstruct or enhance sensory motor development.

3. Demonstrate at least 3-4 strategies to facilitate antigravity sensory motor patterns.

4. Practice adapting a variety of antigravity tasks and challenges to support more typical antigravity patterns of movement.

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Instructional Methods

The speaker will be using a lecture with slides, instructions given for experiential labs, and video case studies.

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Course Requirements

The participant must complete the course in its entirety. Following the passing score of 80% on the post-course quiz, the participant will be immediately issued a course completion certificate that can be downloaded or printed.

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Continuing Education

5.25 Contact Hours awarded if course requirements are met. For additional continuing education information for PT, SLP, and social work, click  here to access our CEU policy information.

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