By: Meena Tadimeti
Contributor to specialneedsinmycity.org  @SNinmycity

For parents, coordinating multiple special needs services for their child with physical impairments or disabilities is often overwhelming and frustrating at times. This is especially true for parents early in the special needs journey. But it doesn’t have to be so, provided you seek the help of a physician specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) who is referred to as Physiatrist.

In this interview, you will hear Dr. Loren Davidson of Shriners Hospitals for Children of Northern California discuss possible ways in which physiatrists can assist parents develop comprehensive treatment plans. Plans that aim to restore or enhance quality of life medically as well as non-medically (communication, emotional, social and vocational services). 

Here is a list of questions that parents to children of special needs submitted for this episode.

• What is PMR or Physiatry?
• What conditions/diseases are treated by a physiatrist?
• Who can refer a child to a physiatrist?
• What are the goals for physiatrists or rehabilitative physicians?
• Why don’t pediatricians often refer families to a physiatrist, especially early in the special needs journey?
• Do physiatrists explore assistive technology for a physically impaired child?
• What is your opinion on the use of alternative medicines?
• How to improve home care for children who spend a great deal of time in wheelchairs?
• How to reduce sleep disturbances in children with special needs?
• Is the use of Botox a short or long-term strategy in improving range of motion and function in children?

And Much More!

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