Children Seeing Success With MFH's Pediatric Rehabilitation Program

Travis Charter began to recognize signs of hypertonia in his daughter Mykal when she was in the first grade.

“If you were to observe her hand grip or arm position, her overall body position, it was as if she were trying to put her whole body weight through this paper,” he said.

But two-and-a-half years later, Mykal, who turns 9 on Sunday, has shown massive improvements thanks to the Methodist Fremont Health’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Program.

“She’s finally learned to wash her hair, brush her hair and put it into a ponytail,” Travis Charter said. “It was just amazing to see how quick, how lovely she did it just like it was nothing.”

Although the program has operated for the last nine years, occupational therapist Karen Felderman said she wants to get the word out with now more resources provided to it.

“We now have a dedicated room that is set up for pediatrics, which we did not have in the past,” she said. “So we’re ready to engage that program with more emphasis with all three: physical, occupational and speech therapy.”

Felderman said the rehabilitation program has worked with children with developmental delays due to disorders such as cerebral palsy, aphasia and dysphagia.

Fremont Tribune: Children Seeing Success With MFH's Pediatric Rehabilitation Program