Choosing a Health Care Provider Who Matches Your Parenting Philosophies
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Choosing a Health Care Provider Who Matches Your Parenting Philosophies

Hi, my name is Katlyn. As a mum of four kids, I take their health very seriously. However, I also take my own parenting philosophies seriously. Because of that, I have always attempted to find doctors and health care providers who resonate with my style. That includes everything from their thoughts on how often to prescribe medication to how they speak to my children. If you want tips on finding the perfect healthcare provider, please explore these posts. They contain everything I have learned over the years, and I hope my experiences can really help other mums and families! Take Care, Katlyn.

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Choosing a Health Care Provider Who Matches Your Parenting Philosophies

Could physiotherapy help your autistic child?

Zoey Olson

When you have a child who suffers from autism, you want to be able to do absolutely everything in your power to help them live in a normal way so that they can progress through their young lives successfully.

While autism is often thought of as a behavioural condition, many of the behaviours of autism have an effect on how a child uses his or her body. So, for example, frustration can be expressed by repetitive motions such as hitting the floor over and over again.

Autism can also be thought of as a physical condition because children with autism will often have underdeveloped motor skills and will require specialist attention in this area.

For this reason, it can be particularly helpful to enlist the help of physical therapists.

What do physiotherapists actually do?

Physiotherapy is a huge area, and different physios can specialise in different areas, but essentially a physio works with muscles and ligaments in order to promote wellness in the body. Physios are often associated with sports injuries, but they are increasingly used by people who are interested in non-invasive, drug-free therapies.

What can a physiotherapist do for an autistic child?

There are many ways that physios can work with autistic children to help their physical bodies and quality of life. First of all, they can help them to develop their gross and fine motor skills. This is important because motor skills are used so much in play. Using building blocks and kicking a football are activities that require certain motor skills, and so developing these skills could also help with your child's social ability.

Parts of the brain affected by autism are also connected to the respiratory system and this means that some children can find it difficult to breathe easily in stressful situations. This can be enormously stressful, but this is another area where physios can help. There are some physiotherapists that specialise in the respiratory system and can help autistic children with exercises that provide a cleaner flow of oxygen when they need it the most.

Children with autism can often suffer from poor posture too. This can be problematic because a person's posture has an effect on their overall wellbeing – posture can affect your ability to form positive memories and to make good decisions. But physios can work with muscles and ligaments through massage, hot and cold therapies, and exercises to correct your autistic child's posture and improve their wellbeing.


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