Paediatric Therapies for Developmental Conditions

Physiotherapy focuses on improving gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination, strength and endurance. Physiotherapy makes the child as functional and independent as possible through specific exercises and modifications to the child's environment. Physiotherapy is essential to ensure optimal outcomes with other interventions such as equipment (splints, wheelchairs, standing frames etc), surgery or BOTOX.

CentaPaeds Therapy Centre have a combined total of over 42 years of paediatric physiotherapy experience! All the physiotherapists have completed their NDT training and are committed to providing up-to-date, evidence based treatments.

Therapists: Mindy Silva, Solange Brizido, Josephine Mare, Sarah Vorster, Tamara Gritzman.

More about the Physiotherapists at CentaPaeds

Speech and language therapy aims to achieve optimal communication skills in a child. The therapist aims to empower the child to communicate effectively, using different approaches depending on the severity of the presenting problem. These approaches include encouraging verbal communication, as well as nonverbal communication e.g. signing or using an augmentative communication system.

Speech and language therapy can help children who:

• Have feeding, oral sensitivity or oral motor difficulties
• Are delayed in learning to talk
• Show early signs of frustration at not being able to communicate
• Have a limited vocabulary
• Find it hard to express themselves or get their message across
• Have difficulty pronouncing certain sounds or speaking clearly
• Have difficulty following instructions or understanding other people
• Are experiencing difficulty learning rhyming, identifying sounds in words, sounding out words and blending sounds together
• Are stuttering

Therapists: Nicky Chesler, Philippa Glogauer,  Monica Cipolat, Leanne Sherwood

More about the Speech Therapists at CentaPaeds

Occupational therapy (OT) helps people achieve independence in all facets of their lives through purposeful activities. If your child has physical disabilities or developmental delays, occupational therapy can improve their cognitive (thinking), physical and sensory-motor skills as well as address psychological, social and environmental factors that impact your child's functioning.

Occupational therapists use play to enhance your child's fine motor skills and muscular strength. They also address feeding and oral motor skills, self-care skills, positioning, adaptive equipment, splint fabrication and use, sensory integration techniques, and assist individuals in acquiring the knowledge, needed to perform. Occupational therapy is beneficial when there are concerns regarding fine motor, sensory, visual motor, handwriting, daily living skills and/or motor planning.

Therapist: Veda Da Silva

More about the Occupational Therapists at CentaPaeds

Psychology recognises that children must be approached and understood from a developmental perspective. They must not be viewed as miniature adults. Their world is different - concrete, exciting and sometimes confusing. Their realities and experiences are often communicated through the world of play and activity.

There are many experiences in childhood in which children feel they have little or no control and play is a way of working out balance and control in their lives. It is this feeling of control that is essential to children’s emotional development and positive mental health. Children and their families may be in need of extra emotional support. To facilitate this, the following psychological services are provided:

• Play Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Parental Guidance
• Adolescent Behavioural Problems
• Individual Therapy
• Trauma Counselling
• EMDR

Therapists: Eileen Rossouw, Anastasia Savopoulos

More about the Psychologists at CentaPaeds

Developmental Medicine is a field of medicine that focuses on paediatric neurology and neurodisability. Developmental Medicine practitioners assess how a child's early develpment can be optimized and what therapy is needed.

A child's development and schooling is becoming increasingly demanding and stressful and he or she can no longer "just cope" without loosing their self esteem. In some cases the child needs referral for assessment and intervention including that of vision or hearing while medication is needed to help others. It is important that the child is seen as a whole person and as part of a family so all aspects can be managed.

Developmental Medicine aims to enhance the lives of children and their families.

Therapist: Dr Judith Hyslop (Dr Judy)

More about Developmental Medicine at CentaPaeds