How much do range of motion exercises and positioning help the child with cerebral palsy?
Of course, normal range of motion and normal body alignment are desirable goals; but, historically, we have not always been successful in achieving these goals with our students who require help to move. Range of motion exercises that are practiced twice a week for 15 minutes cannot have much effect on a student who practices non-range of motion for the other 5,010 minutes of the week. The question we need to ask is, “Range of motion to do what?” Campbell, 1987, states that management programs for students should be coordinated with any active intervention program that the student is receiving. In other words, an active intervention program designed to develop pelvic mobility could be carried over to other situations where management is necessary. We have found that range of motion exercises have little or no effect unless they are used in daily functional activities and they have the best effect when they are self-directed by the student. Positioning or proper body alignment requires
