Suit therapy developed from the original Penguin suit used in Russia's space program. The suit was designed to counteract the harmful effects of weightlessness on the body after returning from long periods in space. It has since been refined into a model that helps children with cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular disorders.

Many children in the United States only receive school-based therapy that is educationally focused. It often does not address a child's ability to move independently of a wheelchair or other assistive devices. If school-based therapy is not enough, some children may receive in-home or out-patient therapy. Many parents find even with this additional therapy that progress is slow or that their child may plateau in their progress after gaining a skill.

The dramatically increased potential for a child to progress in the intensive suit therapy environment is amazing. Three weeks in an intensive therapy program can bring about progress in a child’s motor skills that may normally take six to eight months with traditional therapy. Our program focuses on a child’s abilities and works on building their skills to further enhance their motor development.

Our program’s focus on repetition of gross motor movements trains the child’s brain to make these movements automatic. Once a child has mastered that movement they can utilize it in their everyday activities of sitting, rolling, crawling, transitioning, walking and playing. Intensive suit therapy provides the push a child needs to move to the next level in their development.

The Therasuit™ was developed by Richard and Izabela Koscielny and is a modified version of the original Russian suit. It consists of a vest, shorts, knee pads, shoe attachments, and hat, and utilizes bungees to correctly align and load the body. In conjunction with exercises and functional activities, it is effective in providing deep proprioception, increasing strength, facilitating correct movement patterns, improving endurance, and improving sensory integration. All our therapists are personally trained by Izabela Koscielny and are certified Therasuit™ providers. The effects of the Therasuit™ are:

• Re-trains the central nervous system
• Provides external stabilization
• Normalizes muscle tone
• Aligns the body as close to normal as possible
• Provides dynamic correction
• Corrects gait pattern
• Provides tactile stimulation
• Influences the vestibular system
• Improves balance
• Improves coordination
• Decreases uncontrolled movements in ataxia and athetosis
• Improves body and spatial awareness
• Supports weak muscles
• Provides resistance to strong muscles to further enhance strength
• Improves speech production and its fluency through head and trunk support

 

Monkey Cage

The monkey cage is used for isolating and strengthening specific muscles necessary to produce functional movement. It uses a system of pulleys and weights to target specific muscles. It allows the therapist to facilitate strengthening of weak muscles while preventing compensatory use of other muscles. It is also used for vestibular activities such as "flying" and swinging. It can be used with a treadmill for unweighted gait training. The monkey cage is a very effective tool for teaching children how to activate and use their muscles for functional activities such as sitting, changing positions, and walking.

Spider Cage

The spider cage uses a belt and bungee cords to provide dynamic assistance to maintain an upright position. The spider cage can allow a child to stand without a therapist's assistance while allowing freedom of movement and facilitating balance. It is useful for learning to transition between positions, to acquire the weight-shifts needed for functional movement, and to improve proprioception and arousal with jumping. The spider cage can also be used with the pulleys and weights of the monkey cage to perform strengthening exercises in more challenging positions. The goals of the exercises performed in the spider are to improve functional skills such as sitting, crawling, and walking. It also helps to improve balance, coordination, and sensory-motor integration. The ultimate goal of the spider cage is to promote independent movement.

There are a wide variety of diagnoses that can benefit from suit therapy. They include, but are not limited to:

• Cerebral Palsy
• Developmental Delay
• Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Ataxia
• Athetosis
• Hypertonicity
• Hypotonicity
• Spina Bifida
• Post-Stroke
• Down Syndrome

Contraindications to use of the suit include hip subluxation greater than 50% and severe scoliosis. However, patients with these conditions may be eligible for a modified intensive treatment session without use of the suit.

Precautions are necessary for use of the suit in individuals with:

• Hip subluxation less than 50%
• Uncontrolled seizures
• High blood pressure
• Hydrocephalus with a V-P shunt
• Diabetes
• Heart conditions
• Kidney problems
• Osteoporosis/ Osteopenia

Patients with any of these conditions will require special medical clearance to participate in an intensive suit therapy session.

Please contact us if you have any questions about whether your child is eligible for intensive suit therapy.