Treating Cerebral Palsy in Children: School Age to Young Adults

Presented by Heather A. Mahnken

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Video Runtime: 40 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 35 Minutes

This course will discuss the uniqueness of this population and its impact on development of plans of care, including the importance of using a holistic approach of addressing psychosocial needs and developing health maintenance skills as individuals with CP transition to adulthood.

Learning Objectives
  • Distinguish changes in therapeutic approaches that are unique to this age population, and determine therapy approaches to address those needs
  • Examine the psychosocial needs of this population and their impact in meaningful occupations
  • Choose therapeutic approaches to support increased independence with health maintenance and instrumental activities of daily living skills
  • Analyze current gaps in transition services from pediatric to adult services, and formulate plans to address this deficit

Meet your instructor

Heather A. Mahnken

Heather Mahnken is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience. She has worked in many settings including outpatient therapy, acute care, school, and early intervention. Her passions include working with children with neuromotor diagnoses, including CP, ASD, and coordination disorders; creating motor…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Guiding Practice: An Overview

1. Guiding Practice: An Overview

This chapter will review recommendations of best practices and investigate supportive therapeutic modalities to achieve these goals.

Psychosocial Supports: Living With a Disability

2. Psychosocial Supports: Living With a Disability

This chapter will discuss psychosocial vulnerabilities that can be associated with this population. It will examine different approaches to assist with motivation to achieve patient-selected goals.

Transition Planning From Pediatric to Adult Services

3. Transition Planning From Pediatric to Adult Services

Transition planning from pediatric to adult services has been identified as challenging in literature. In this chapter, we will examine this issue more by an interview with a young adult with CP to discuss their experience and clinical approaches to addressing increasing independence with life skills.