Ability Plus Therapy

Sometimes progress starts by moving in the opposite direction of what the body naturally wants to do. 💪

Jose’s three-week Intensive Physical Therapy session focused on an overarching goal: extension. Every activity was carefully designed to help him activate the muscles needed to lift, lengthen, and maintain a more upright posture.

🧘 Propped Prone – While working through a prolonged hamstring stretch, he was grounded through his upper arms to create stability and encourage him to push up toward a visual target. This position also supports spinal mobility, shoulder mobility, and myofascial release.
⚽ Exercise Ball Extension Work – Lying on his stomach over the exercise ball, he worked on active trunk extension and side bending. By using righting reactions, we encouraged activation of his trunk and extensor muscles in directions that don't come naturally to him, helping build strength, balance, and postural control.
🕸️ Prone Suspension – While suspended, he worked on pushing, pulling, core activation, and head control. This activity also provided valuable vestibular and proprioceptive input to improve body awareness and sensory integration.
🦵 – Tall kneeling allowed him to work on extension, postural control, and weight bearing while reducing the impact of knee flexion contractures. This position challenged him to feel where his body was in relation to gravity and develop greater awareness of his center of gravity over his base of support.
Every exercise looked different, but they all worked toward the same goal: helping him build the strength, control, and body awareness needed for more functional movement. 🙌

Great work, Jose! 💪

👉 Follow along to see more intensive therapy journeys and the incredible work our kiddos are doing.