Life’s a Sport: Building Foundational Skills to Increase Gait Fluency in New Environments Using a Sports Approach

Approaching adolescence/adulthood, individuals with CP are at risk for: decreased social engagement, decreased participation, increased falls and limitations negotiating environmental barriers. Limitations are related to poor development of walking adaptability and lack of performance flexibility in adapting gait abilities to varied constraints or environments. It is important for individuals with CP to build a repertoire of gait skills that can be adapted to novel situations, supporting enriched participation throughout their lifespan.

While whole-task practice of gait has strong evidence for task achievement in the clinical environment, training only in this way can lead to a ceiling effect in gait skills. Sports literature indicates that high-intensity component practice of essential skills works through neuroplastic mechanisms to “wire” motor plans to be automatically recruited, allowing the individual to react to new demands with flexibility. We can apply this principle to gait training for individuals with CP, increasing the individual’s automatic access to key gait skills under multiple conditions.

This session will review the literature regarding efficient muscle function during gait compared to limitations in individuals with CP. We will then guide attendees, using video, through gait analysis at each stage of stance (loading response, midstance, and terminal stance) to plan specific exercise and orthotic interventions. Participants will then incorporate these key gait skills into whole-part gait training and therapeutic gait as a long-term home exercise program.

Labs will incorporate specific PREs to improve eccentric LE global and foot intrinsic motor control and varied whole gait training focused on component development.