Michelle Lange, OTR ? Head positioning to facilitate switch access ...

Posted on | May 30, 2011 | No Comments

In my last blog I introduced you to Joshua, an 8 year old with cerebral palsy. His extreme posturing and agitation were reduced by addressing his ?key point of control?, the trunk, with a belly binder. He eventually was able to access a switch mounted over his right shoulder. But another key positioning component for Joshua was the headrest. Joshua could not tolerate pressure to the occiput of the head. This pressure led to overall extension of the neck, trunk and even extremities. He also tended to ?hook? under his other headrest, to the dismay of his family and school team. We tried the Stealth i2i headrest with Joshua which provides suboccipital support without pressure to the occiput and includes two anterior ?arms? that prevent hooking and encourage a more midline head position. Once Joshua?s head was in a more neutral position and he was no longer fighting it, he was able to activate that switch over his right shoulder. The switch type and location were important, but addressing his positioning was key to allowing Joshua this independent control.

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Source: http://www.ourremarkablestories.com/?p=557

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