Moving Beyond ‘early’: Introducing ON Time Mobility as a Rights-based Framework to Support Movement Experiences in Young Children with Disabilities

For all infants and young children, mobility is the foundation for active exploration, social interaction, and participation with family and peers. However, children with disabilities often experience delays in the onset of self-initiated mobility, and thus rely on passive mobility experiences more frequently and for longer durations than average developing peers. Even in cases where mobility technology is introduced ‘early’, this can be months to years after delays in development are initially identified, further widening mobility and participation disparities.

This presentation, geared toward PTs and PTAs working with young children, introduces ON Time mobility- a novel framework for supporting the right of each child to hours of active mobility each day each day to explore, engage in relationships and develop agency to co-create their lives. Such a “mobility rights” perspective reimagines the therapist as ally, educator, and a key provider of both motor training and technology that advances mobility equity in the first years of life. We will describe five central tenets of an ON Time mobility perspective- Timing, Urgency, Frequency, Multi-modality, and Sociability- that may be applied to critically explore our field’s current mobility practices, and provide a roadmap for more equitable mobility interventions. We will center the voices and lived mobility experiences of self-advocates and caregivers in our session activities. We will provide participants with strategies, language, policy guidance, and case examples to illustrate the principles of ON Time mobility in action, with the end goal of advancing pediatric mobility and participation outcomes and advocacy in our field.