CP and IT at Top Children's Hospitals

I perused the Web sites of some of this country’s top children’s hospitals with comprehensive CP programs and looked for references to intensive therapy (IT). I found it mentioned conspicuously at three sites, and vaguely at one more. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) Searches at eleven other sites yielded no hits. I doubt that IT is pooh-poohed or eschewed at the eleven "no hit" facilities, but I don’t know for sure. 

WHY I CARE: I’m trying to learn whether or not IT would benefit my daughter. I’m looking to the top hospital neurology centers for guidance, answers, etc. 

Here’s what they’re doing at those hospitals that clearly are emphasizing IT:   

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati): 

Offers a whole “Intensive Therapy Menu of Services”, including, but not limited to: 

1. Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) 
2. SPIDER Therapy: OT and PT activities and exercises aimed at helping children develop skills, centered around the use of the Universal Exercise Unit (UEU) 
3. Partial Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (PBWSTT): Non-robotic LiteGait. Description: Physical therapists use a non-robotic LiteGait to “un-weight” the client in a standing position. By minimizing the client’s weight, the PT can have the client participate in repeated practice of gait training to increase gait speed, endurance, weight acceptance, and gross motor skill. 
4. Partial Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (PBWSTT): Robotic Lokomat (RoboDOG)  Physical therapists use robotic Lokomat, a “driven gait orthosis that automates locomotion therapy on a treadmill and improves the efficiency of treadmill training.”  See Q&As at the end for more on robot-assisted therapy.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Columbus):

Pursuing research studies centered around Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (to determine, for example, the minimum amount of CIMT required to obtain positive results).

Has recently created STRIVE: an intensive motor learning program for children with developmental delay. Description: a 4-week program that entails physical therapy two hours per day, five days per week -- and that incorporates CMIT, treadmill training and more.   

University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital (Ann Arbor):

Utilizing “intensive therapy protocols, including Robotic therapy with the Lokomat.”

*  *  *  *  *

*More about Lokomat from Swiss-based medical technology company, Hocoma AG: 

Q: What is robot-assisted walking therapy?

A: Robot-assisted walking therapy is a form of physical therapy that uses a robotic device to help a person whose ability to walk has been impaired as a result of stroke, spinal cord or brain injury, neurological or orthopedic condition, learn to walk again.

Q: How does the robotic device work? 

A: The person is suspended in a harness over a treadmill and the frame of the robot, attached by straps to the outside of the legs, moves the legs in a natural walking pattern. A computer controls the pace of walking and measures the body’s response to the movement. 

Q: How does robot-assisted walking therapy help a person re-learn to walk?

The exact mechanism for walking is still not clear, but it is believed that the repetitive walking pattern helps the brain and spinal cord work together to re-route signals that were interrupted by injury or illness. Currently, this type of therapy is done with the aid of two or more physical therapists that manually move the patient’s legs in a walking pattern. However, the labor-intensive, strenuous nature and variability of the manual method can limit the frequency and duration of the therapy. With robot-assisted walking therapy, the robotic device does most of the heavy work, the pattern and pace are consistent throughout the session, and the exercise can be sustained over longer periods of time.