Adaptive Sports Physical Therapy Program

• Care custom-made for your child
  • Our main goals are to safely return your child to play and to prevent future injuries.
  • We take into account your child’s unique needs, including their strength, range of motion and muscle tone.
  • Our physical therapists (PTs) create a custom care plan based on your child’s abilities, age, sport or activity, physical condition, adaptive equipment and performance goals.
• Experts on children’s abilities and conditions
  • Our PTs focus on how sports can affect the growing muscles, joints and bones of a child with a disability.
  • Each PT on the team is trained and experienced in treating bone, joint and muscle conditions along with symptoms related to the nervous system, such as paralysis and spasticity.
  • We have the experience to explain exercises and programs in ways each child can understand.
• We take a team approach
  • We partner with you and other members of your child’s medical team.
  • If your child has a coach, we can include them in the plan.
  • We also work closely with your adaptive equipment vendor to make sure we get the best equipment and fit for each athlete in their sport.

Our comprehensive services include:

Assessments and testing

• Pre-participation screening

  Before your child starts a sport, we check their bones, muscles and joints. We suggest a plan to help them prepare.

• Biomechanical analysis (the study of range of motion and muscle tone)

  First we look at how your child moves. Then we help your child change their stroke or stride or swing to adjust for the way their body moves. A rehab plan may help your child strengthen some muscles or get better at certain skills.

• Video analysis

  After watching video of your child in motion, a PT can teach your child changes that may help them heal from or prevent injuries during their sport.

• Return-to-sport testing

  Before your child goes back to sports after an injury, we check their strength, balance and movement and how long they can be active (endurance).

• Readiness for first-timers

  If your child with a disability wants to try sports for the first time, we assess them and develop an exercise program to help prepare them. Then we connect them with community programs. These include Special Olympics, Seattle Adaptive Sports, Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center and Outdoors for All.

• Treatments to help relieve symptoms and improve healing

  To ease your child’s pain and help them heal, we may use ultrasound, neuromuscular electric stimulation (NMES) or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

• Taping and bracing

  Tape and braces may support an injured body part or take the pressure off it as it heals. These aids also help athletes be more aware of their posture and movement.

• Fitting and biomechanics of adaptive equipment

  We make sure equipment fits and your child knows how to use it the right way. Examples are braces or adaptive equipment, like a wheelchair for basketball.