rehab_posterior_fossa

More documents

Recommendations

Info

life, known as activities of daily living. The speech-language pathologist looks at how your child speaks and how he swallows. The neuropsychologist looks at how your child thinks and behaves and helps prepare your child to go back to school. The following is a list of problems you may notice if your child has posterior fossa syndrome. These are the most common problems, but there may be others. Please report all problems to your child’s doctor. Apraxia of speech This speech disorder may cause your child to have trouble saying what he wants to say correctly every time. It is caused by a reduced ability to plan and coordinate speech. If your child has apraxia of speech he may say the wrong word or require increased effort to produce sounds for speech. The speech-language pathologist may help your child speak better by practicing phrases he uses often. Dysarthria Dysarthria is a motor-speech disorder that makes it difficult to use or control the muscles of the mouth, tongue, palate, and vocal cords, which are used to make speech. Dysarthria can cause these muscles to become weak, move slowly, or not move at all. The speech-language pathologist may teach your child some steps to help others better understand his speech. Some ways to improve this include having your child speak slower or use gestures to help listeners understand. Language deficits If your child has a language deficit, he may use or understand language at a lower level than he should for his age. Your child’s speech-language pathologist may help increase his vocabulary and improve grammar through targeted play. The neuropsychologist will focus on thinking skills that can affect your child’s use or understanding of language. Examples of these thinking skills are attention, working memory, processing speed, planning, organizing, getting tasks started, and solving problems. The neuropsychologist and the speech-language pathologist will work together to find helpful ways for your child to communicate despite the mental and motor weaknesses that posterior fossa syndrome might cause. Mutism A child who has mutism does not speak. Children with posterior fossa syndrome who do not speak, often want to communicate with others. The speech-language pathologist and neuropsychologist may help your child by giving him another way to communicate, such as pointing or using his eyes to look at multiple choices. This staff member may also help your child start to gain control over breathing, making sounds, and moving his mouth in the ways needed for speech. This document is not intended to take the place of the care and attention of your personal physician or other professional medical services. Our aim is to promote active participation in your care and treatment by providing information and education. Questions about individual health concerns or specific treatment options should be discussed with your physician. Copyright © 2013 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital www.stjude.org Page 2 of 5 Revised 2/13
Ataxia A child with ataxia is less coordinated and has trouble moving and controlling movements. Ataxia causes problems with tasks that involve both large and small movements. If your child has ataxia he may shake or have tremors. The physical therapist will help your child with large movements of his trunk (upper body), legs, and arms, called gross motor coordination. The occupational therapist will help with fine motor tasks, working with your child to control the small movements he makes with hands and fingers, including feeding himself, writing, dressing, and handling small toys and other objects. Both therapists work to help your child get back the most function possible. For example, your child’s therapist may suggest certain play activities and weightbearing positions that involve controlled use of arms, legs, and trunk. Sometimes activities may be hard for your child if he is having problems with motor planning. Motor planning is how the brain plans the steps needed to complete an action. Your child may need to be told which step comes next and may need many kinds of physical help to learn how to carry out the movement. All of your child’s care team will work to help your child break down a task into smaller, easier steps, to help him succeed. If your child is not aware of his motor coordination problems, it will be harder to keep himself safe from everyday dangers. A neuropsychologist can work with your child to make him more aware of weaknesses that might cause safety concerns and will provide you with safety guidelines. Change in muscle tone Your child may have weakness on one side of the body (hemiplegia) or general changes in muscle tone (hypotonia or hypertonia). Hemiplegia is when your child cannot move a group of muscles on one side of his body. This affects motor control and causes too much tension in muscles at rest. Muscle tone refers to tension inside muscles, not strength. Muscle tone is the balance of muscle tension inside a muscle or group of muscles at rest allowing them to tighten and relax when needed. Muscle tone may change as your child heals after surgery. Two types of muscle tone that are often seen in patients with posterior fossa syndrome are hypotonia and hypertonia. Hypotonia is low muscle tone or floppy muscles. This means your child is less able to control and tighten a muscle to complete a desired task, which affects trunk control and posture. Hypertonia is when there is too much tension in the muscles and arms or legs might feel “tight.” The occupational and physical therapists will have your child do certain activities to improve muscle use and tone in the affected arm and leg. They may have your child use both hands during activities and have him reach across the body while standing or sitting. They might also have your child complete tasks using only the affected arm and leg. They may have your child clap to music and squat to pick up a dropped item. The This document is not intended to take the place of the care and attention of your personal physician or other professional medical services. Our aim is to promote active participation in your care and treatment by providing information and education. Questions about individual health concerns or specific treatment options should be discussed with your physician. Copyright © 2013 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital www.stjude.org Page 3 of 5 Revised 2/13
Page 1: The posterior fossa is an area near
Page 5: The occupational therapist will hel

rehab_posterior_fossa

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?