Conditions & Treatment Programs

Children - LIFE program for Neurological Disorders

A neurological disorder can impair a child’s physical and mental ability. Left untreated, it can also lead to long-term disability. Through an innovative program called Learning Independent Functions for Everyday – or LIFE for short – Health in Motion treats children with neurological disorders such as:

Child brain injury
Cerebral palsy
Child (pediatric) stroke
Down syndrome
Developmental delay
Encephalitis
Pediatric multiple sclerosis

How the LIFE Program works

The LIFE Program is based on a belief that a child with neurological disorders can build the ability to perform the tasks of daily living if these tasks were broken down into a sequence of movements and imprinted onto the child’s mind and body through action and verbal commands. Depending on the needs of each patient, the LIFE Program may be led by one health practitioner or by a multidisciplinary team that could include an osteopath manual practitioner, physiotherapist, speech therapist, nutrition counselor, massage therapist, homeopath, or herbal therapist.

The LIFE Program is built on three main pillars:

In-clinic instruction through action and proper verbal commands: When action is supported by proper verbal commands, the brain is more likely to retain memory of the action. This is why the LIFE Program includes precise verbal commands that guide the child through the full sequence of each complete function. When the action and commands are repeated, the action eventually becomes automatic and functional.
Integration of therapy into the child’s daily activities at home: The LIFE Program is most effective, and yields results sooner, when it is integrated into the child’s daily activities. Since the LIFE Program teaches function, not exercises, the therapy must be incorporated into every single function that the child does every single day, until the functions become automatic. This is why parents and/or caregivers must be present at each session as active participants and trainees.
Transformation of the child, parents and caregivers’ behavioural patterns: The ultimate goal of the LIFE Program is to enable the child to become independent. But in order to achieve this, the child must understand that he or she can no longer depend completely on other people, and parents and caregivers need to stop doing everything for the child. Through the LIFE Program, we work with families to change negative behavioural patterns and create new ones that will help the child develop self-reliance in everyday life.

Program duration

Our LIFE Program consists of about 30 treatment hours per month, with the number of months required varying according to the patient’s needs. During the duration of your child’s program, we offer unlimited consultation by email and phone with any of your team therapists.

Patients from outside Canada

If you are coming from overseas, we will customize a treatment program based on the description and video of your child, which we will need to have at least four weeks before your arrival. The length of the program will range from 50 to 120 treatment hours.

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