Invention Helps Cerebral Palsy Patients

nwitimes.com:

As a senior clinical occupational therapist, David Blaski works with patients to help them recover skills needed for daily living.

So when he came across a young girl who loved the water, but whose legs crisscrossed badly in the pool, making treatment difficult, he knew he had to come up with an original idea.

“(The girl’s) therapist lamented that they always had orthotics to reduce this condition for walking, but there was nothing for the pool,” he said. So one day on his lunch break at Franciscan Omni Health and Fitness–Schererville, he sketched out an idea for an invention that would help cerebral palsy patients swim better. He spoke with his brother, Kevin Blaski, and the two began constructing an apparatus that would make up for patients’ loss of muscle tone and allow them to use water for therapy.

“Some kids with cerebral palsy have difficulty with muscle tone, which causes the scissoring of the legs,” David Blaski said. “In this position, it’s hard for them to learn gait patterns and normal movement patterns. It almost freezes their bodies.”

The device — developed and subsequently patented about five years ago — allows alignment of the body so arms and legs can be used more effectively. The trick to constructing the perfect apparatus was coming up with the right formula for buoyancy, he said.

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