As a pediatric therapist, I see a variety of different types of children. I am a physical therapist and I work with an occupational therapist specializing in aquatic therapy. We have a company called Angelfish Therapy and primarily treat children in the pool. The water has many beneficial therapeutic properties that truly create a very intensive sensory experience for the children we work with.

First, their entire body is surrounded by water creating total body pressure. This is more intensive than the deep pressure most of these children get on land. Children love this feeling; some crave it so much that it is very hard to keep them above the water. They want to be deep under water to maximize the effects of the hydrostatic pressure all over them. This pressure is more intensive the deeper they go into the water.

Another intensive experience that children are presented with is fear. This is because of the buoyancy of the water. Children cannot feel where they are in space and for those that already have body awareness issues this is very frightening. Finally, we often see children with some tactile issues that are very bothered and upset by the feeling of splashing water on their face. These kids get anxious when other children are swimming near them in the pool. They are the children we get calls from their parents about how swim lessons never helped their child and they are at their wits end about how to get them comfortable in the water. This is our specialty and we have a 100 percent success rate with getting this type of a child comfortable in the water, usually with just a few short-term private aquatic therapy sessions.

input in conjunction with therapeutic handling that they needed to process how to move in the water and give themselves the input they need to feel safe, comfortable, and move independently.

How do we do this? As a physical therapist trained in pediatric NDT, I was very comfortable with the handling part, getting kids stronger in their core muscles and using trunk rotation patterns they had never used before. Working with Cindy Freeman, occupational therapist, brought more of the sensory integration piece into my treatments. Together we combine intensive proprioceptive input with resisted barbell activities, jumping, ankle weights, climbing activities, trunk rotation activities, and intensive vestibular input in all directions depending on the specific child's needs. We also do a lot of preparatory tactile, deep pressure input around the child’s face as we grade activities, letting them feel the success of progressively moving to put their chin, lips, and nose under as they tolerate putting their whole face under the water.