Your article “Learning skills for life, Justin Herbst couldn’t keep going to Canada for the therapy that helped him walk, So his parents brought the therapy here” (Magazine, May 28) was misleading regarding conventional therapies.
It stated that physical therapy worked only on range of motion and preventing contractures.
Actually all therapies should be working on functional activities for everyday life as well as incorporating mobility and strength. I would encourage parents to look for therapists who address functional activities in their treatment.
Stretching can often be done as a home program and does not need the skill of a trained therapist.
The benefit of conductive education is definitely the intensity at which it is delivered.
If a child received conventional therapy with all the proper components, the benefit would be similar.
Also, there are many recent research topics on motor learning for people who have had brain damage that indicate neural growth with the repetition of functional activities. I suggest more clinicians read the literature from the past 10 years.
