Pricing & Registration: Choose from the pricing options listed. Team discounts are also available - contact us at [email protected]

Course Description

This program features an overview of somatosensory function and development, the role of postural control in movement acquisition and physiologic adaptation of neuromusculoskeletal tissues, and features of orthopedic development of the trunk and selected aspects of the extremities. The content has relevance to pediatric rehabilitation clinicians who set treatment goals and design management strategies to optimize upper and lower limb use in children with neuromotor dysfunction and deficits in sensory processing and postural control. 

The first two sessions span an overview of biomechanical, kinesiologic, and physiological sciences at work in orthopedic and sensorimotor development, both typical and pathologic. The operating mechanisms of movement-based modeling of the growing skeleton are reviewed and applied to children with unilateral and bilateral cerebral palsy, and to the upper extremity in children with brachial plexus palsy.  The mechanisms at work in the acquisition of - and the role of - postural control are reviewed in the context of building effective limb use, with suggestions for assisting a child to develop this essential foundation. 

Instructor describes selected musculoskeletal assessments and the clinical implications of their findings and brings them to therapeutic and orthotic management planning designed to optimize bone and joint development via building postural control and movement skills. The relevance of the findings obtained in the musculoskeletal assessment to target selected interventions is made evident in videotaped cases.

For a complete description of the course, including a time-coded outline of course topics, please download the full course description.

Program Access

Once you have registered, you will have 60 days to review the course material. Each section must be completed before moving on to the next, but you can review any completed section at any time.

Instruction Level/ Intended Audience

This Intermediate-level course is intended for Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants. The information herein is intended to be used only in the course of professional practice. 

CEU's

In addition to offering a substantial investment in your professional development, the Developmental Orthopedics - Two - Session online course delivers 6.9 contact hours of Cusick-level content.

Certificates will be issued on a periodic basis to those who complete all sessions, record 80% or better on all quizzes, and submit their online evaluation. 

For Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants: Progressive GaitWays, LLC is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development. PD activity approval ID# 6649.

This Distance Learning-Independent activity is offered for .69 CEUs at 6.9 contact hours. The content is at an intermediate learning level, in the OT Service Delivery and Foundational Knowledge categories. AOTA does not endorse specific course content, products, or clinical procedures.

Total Contact Hours: 6.9

Course Objectives

Here is a partial list of course objectives. (See Course Description [link] for full list.) Participants completing this course are expected to be able to:

  • Describe these features of normal, postnatal immaturity of skeletal structure and alignment: thoracolumbar kyphosis, scapular and upper limb segment alignment, hip flexion contracture, increased femoral anteversion, increased femoral antetorsion, coxa valga, genu varum, and leg and foot rotation.

  • Distinguish between strain and load and apply this distinction to the skeletal modeling process and to modeling potential in an aging child.

  • Relate movement-based loading history to bone growth rate in children. Explain the significance of the innate drive for verticality.

  • Explain the presence of symmetry in supine and prone positions at age 4 months as evidence of fundamental postural control.

  • Describe how the normal neonatal hip flexion contracture influences the early modeling of the lumbar spine in the sagittal plane.

  • Relate ideal, full‐term neonatal lower limb joint alignment to the acquisition of skilled transitions between quadruped and sitting positions.

  • Relate the achievement of competent weight shifting in the frontal plane to emerging upper and lower limb use.

  • Describe the torsional status of the radius and ulna of the affected side in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy.

  • Describe the upper limb modeling errors in brachial plexus palsy that limit shoulder lateral rotation and forearm supination.

  • Discuss the components of Targeted Training that apply to the enhancement of upper limb use.

Pricing options

Choose from the pricing options at right. Team discounts are also available - contact us at [email protected]

Instructor(s)

President / Senior Instructor Beverly (Billi) Cusick

Beverly (Billi) Cusick PT, MS, NDT, COF/BOC is an internationally known pediatric physical therapist whose specialty is the orthopedic development and orthotic management of children with cerebral palsy and other neuromotor deficits.

She has been teaching these and related topics since 1978 - including presentations by invitation for the APTA, AACPDM, AOPA, and AAOP and more than 460 full programs and workshops worldwide.

Ms. Cusick received her BS in PT from Bouve College at Northeastern University in Boston, MA in 1972, and her MS in Clinical and College Teaching for Allied Health Professionals from the University of Kentucky in Lexington in 1988. She is an Associate Professor for the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions – Pediatrics Program – Provo, Utah (2006-present) and is NDT basic- and baby-trained.

Inclusion/Non-Discrimination Statement

Progressive GaitWays LLC and the Cusick Center for Learning do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.  These activities include, but are not limited to, provision of training services, products, or consultations to rehabilitation clinicians such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, orthotists, and physical therapy assistants.  We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all attendees, colleagues, clients, and vendors.

Financial Disclosure

Instructor Beverly Cusick PT, MS, NDT, COF/BOC is the inventor of TheraTogs orthotic garment systems and co-founder of TheraTogs, Inc. She is also the co-founder and President of Progressive GaitWays, LLC. She possesses a financial interest in both companies.