Muscle morphology and intramuscular fat after treatment as usual including BonTA in children with cerebral palsy - a commentary and some context.

Associate Professor Sian Williams

Decreased muscle size (muscle atrophy) and fat infiltration have been believed to be two important muscle changes during the growth of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Muscle atrophy has been well demonstrated in short-term studies in the calf muscle (medial gastrocnemius; MG) in children with CP. However, intramuscular fat infiltration has been less studied, mainly because it has been difficult to measure accurately. Therefore, there is a...

Gross Motor Function Measure 66 Item Sets for use with infants and toddlers at high risk for cerebral palsy: construct validity and responsiveness.

Gross Motor Function Measure-66 Item Sets for use with infants and toddlers at high risk for cerebral palsy: Construct validity and responsiveness

Natalie A Koziol, Christiana D Butera, Lin-Ya Hsu, Silvana Alves Pereira, Stacey C Dusing

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the construct validity and responsiveness of the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 Item Set...

Profiling the oral language and psychosocial skills of young people attending Flexible Learning Programs.

Dr Emily Jackson

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41432037/

Swimming for Children with disability: experiences of rehabilitation and swimming professionals in Australia.

Karen Graham, Katarina Ostojic, Leanne Johnston ,Iain Dutia, Elizabeth Barnes-Keoghan and Georgina L. Clutterbuck

Abstract

Background

Swimming is a common goal for children with disability, and the most popular sport for children in Australia. This study explored swimming and rehabilitation professionals’ perceptions of swimming for Australian children with disability.

Methods

Rehabilitation and swimming professionals with recent experience working with children with disability completed an online survey.

Activating parents in early childhood intervention: a multi-study examination of the PAIR model as an implementation strategy.

This study evaluated the PAIR model as a practical tool for implementing family-centred, relational early childhood intervention. Across three linked studies, they found that while brief training improved practitioners’ knowledge and confidence, sustained adoption and observable practice change were strongest when training was combined with reflective supervision. 

The research highlights that organisational barriers, particularly short service blocks and limited time for reflection, remain major constraints. It provides timely evidence on what is required to translate relational approaches into con...

Well... actually we are over 300 episodes old but it took a while to get the band back together after the European Academy of Childhood-onset Disabilities conference!

Join Dayna, Ash and Marissa (and a special guest appearance by Ed - on video no less!)

Enhancing physically active leisure participation for children with cerebral palsy: a randomised controlled trial.

Professor Leanne Sakzewski

ResearchWorks is heading to AACPDM 2026 in Philadelphia this year!

We can't wait to see you there - it's a special 80th Annual Meeting for the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM).

Join with us as we speak with Dr Kristie Bjornson - live from EACD 2026 in Galway Ireland, the final episode that we recorded on our European tour! A preview of what to expect from this year's annual congress and a look at the host city, Philadelphia!

Register here:
https://www.aacpdm.org/events/2026/registration

It's the special summary episode of our EACD 2026 conference series live from Galway Ireland! The conference was centred around the F-words and there was a call to action on the clinical application of the F-words.

Enjoy the final episode of our European Academy of Childhood-onset Disability Annual Congress series - the ResearchWorks team are on a mini-break, which we hope you'll use to catch up the entire series of episodes from Galway.

We'll be back with full length episodes in a few weeks time!

Thank you to everyone who came by the booth...

Avoid the tyranny of orthodoxy, the F-words, goal setting and real life application.

An evidence-based, standardized, and practical diagnostic framework for cerebral palsy.

Developmental regression in childhood - identification, investigation and outcomes.

Helping Children Flourish: Parent-Informed Social Narratives to Support Readiness for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Cerebral Palsy

Building capacity for real world participation.

The implementation of evidence-based exercise supports (FitSkills) and the impact of young people with disability participating in their communities alongside peer mentors

Health-Related Quality of Life after Guided Growth Treatment for Hip Displacement in Young Children with Cerebral Palsy

Dynamic Movement Intervention, Cuevas Medek Exercises and the state of the evidence. Challenging the status quo.

Why do families not participate in free parent education programs? a cross sectional population based study of preschoolers

Power mobility experience, meaning and outcomes for children with complex non-ambulant cerebral palsy: A scoping review

Non-invasive Measurement of work of breathing in children and young adults with high level cerebral palsy.

Does multi- level surgery weaken muscles in ambulatory youth with CP?

Optimising the neuroplasticity window: from evidence to early CP intervention

Neurowashing in Early Intervention: A Review of Neuroscience Rhetoric and an Appraisal Tool.

Enhancing Mobility in Students with Non-Ambulatory Cerebral Palsy in School Settings: A Scoping Review of the MOVE Program

EACD 2026: Fostering self generated movement with low cost and technology based strategies (Dr Susan Duff, Dr Theresa Sukal Mouton)

Randomised Controlled trial of Vision Intervention for Seeing Impaired Babies: Learning through Enrichment (VISIBLE RCT)

Beyond tone reduction: functional effects and muscular adaptations after botulinum toxin in children with cerebral palsy.

Implementing low-cost powered mobility devices in children with Cerebral Palsy: from concept to clinical practice  (workshop)

Beyond the labels: How to set goals and identify intervention ingredients for children with childhood-onset disabilities through the novel F-words Lens Tool (instructional)

Transforming the experience for families in Early Intervention whilst optimising outcomes for infants and young children with developmental challenges using Ei SMART, a multidisciplinary and co-produced evidence-based framework.

Keynote: Changing the conversation on childhood disability: family voices and power of the F-Words

Childhood disability in the 21st Century: Out of the shadows with the world health organisation and some ‘F-words’ (Public lecture)

What a wonderful way to start this conference. The F-words have been around since 2012 and since then, we have seen an important shift in the field of child-onset disability. 

What do the F-words mean in practice and how can they be used to support development and to enable children and their families to "being, becoming and belonging"? 

Abstract

This article explores the often-overlooked tragedy of promising happiness through overcoming disability.

It draws on qualitative interviews and focus groups with 36 adults with cerebral palsy to explore how medical discourse shapes the ways in which individuals are encouraged to pursue a good life, leading to unintended consequences.

Sara Ahmed's theory of happiness is used to understand the dialectics of pursuing a good life through overcoming disability, revealing how medical interventions and discourse during childhood inadvertently contribute to feelings of inferiority and social alienation. 

The article highlights t...

Time toxicity and shared decision-making in cerebral palsy

David B Frumberg, Paige T Church, Nathan Rosenberg

PMID: 41387091 DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.70123

Abstract

Clinicians and families regularly enter into a process of shared decision-making. Seldom, if ever, however, is the critical question of time usage, or, more specifically, time-related burdens, accounted for when establishing goals and outcome measures. 

Time-related burdens are not included, for instance, as an outcome measure in cerebral palsy research-something which may have profound effects about which we are unaware. By contrast, in the field o...

From Childhood to Adulthood: Lifespan insights into health and health service needs in cerebral palsy

Keynote session: Oceania Academy Of Cerebral Palsy And Other Childhood-onset Disabilities

We catch up with Professor Hércules Ribeiro Leite - to discuss his 2024 top-cited DMCN article!

What are the barriers and facilitators to participation of people with Down syndrome? A scoping review

Deisiane Oliveira Souto, Marina Oliveira de Sousa, Rafaela Guimarães Ferreira, Ana Claudia Brandão, Pedro Brandão Carrera, Hércules Ribeiro Leite

Free article

Abstract

Aim: To determine the barriers and facilitators of active community participation of ch...

Longitudinal decline in upper-limb range of motion in adults with cerebral palsy

Erika Cloodt, Jenny Hedberg-Graff, Anna Lindgren, Marianne Arner, Evgenia Manousaki, Katina Pettersson, Elisabet Rodby-Bousquet

Abstract

Aim: To analyse longitudinal changes in passive range of motion (ROM) in the upper limb in adults with cerebral palsy (CP).

Method: Passive ROM for shoulder abduction and flexion, supination, and elbow and wrist extension was analysed in a longitudinal cohort of adults aged 16 to 76 years from the...

Hip Displacement in Spastic Hemiplegia: Increased Risk with Hip Internal Rotation and Adduction Irrespective of Sagittal Gait Pattern

Zhe Yuan, Alexander Aretakis, Chris Church, M Wade Shrader, Freeman Miller, Anuj Gupta, Arianna Trionfo, Jason J Howard

Abstract

Background: Hip displacement (HD), common in cerebral palsy (CP), is reportedly less prevalent for spastic hemiplegia. Patients with a Winter-Gage-Hicks (WGH) type IV gait pattern are believed at increased risk of HD, but true prevalence is unknown. This study aimed to analyze the rates of HD...

EACD 2026 - Galway, Ireland. "‘Mol an Óige agus Tiocfaidh Siad’​ - Encourage the young and they will flourish​".

We catch up with Dr Hazel Killeen President, EACD Annual Congress 2026 Lecturer in Occupational Therapy College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway 

and Dr Rory O'Sullivan Scientific Chair, EACD Annual Congress 2026 Head of Strategy & Innovation, Central Remedial Clinic.

It was an honour to sit down with the organisers of this years European congress and discuss the upcoming conference and encourage you to visit Galway this June (2026). It will be an incredible...

Join Dayna and Marissa on an extended episode back, after the Oceania Conference 2026, with the one and only Dr Brian Hoare. 

A candid conversation about: More isn’t always better: getting smarter about therapy dosage in children with cerebral palsy.

Join us for a wonderful look at why it isn't just about doing more - dosage is far more complex than that and we - as therapists and researchers - need to get smarter about this, especially for children with cerebral palsy.