NDTA™ Certificate Course in the Contemporary Practice of NDT for the Management of Children with Cerebral Palsy and other Neuromuscular Disorders

Course Outline

NDTA™ Certificate Courses are postgraduate continuing education courses offered to Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech-Language Pathologists who work with adults or children with movement disorders associated with neuromuscular impairments. The curriculum includes intensive theoretical and practical work based on techniques that were originally developed and taught by Dr. Karel and Mrs. Berta Bobath. This information has been further developed, and is updated on an ongoing basis, by the Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association Instructor Group.

The Certificate Course core curriculum includes didactic information, hands-on lab work in which participants practice problem solving and application of intervention strategies, treatment demonstrations by instructors, and mentored clinical practice in which participants work with a variety of clients.

Instruction in the NDT philosophy as an interdisciplinary team approach assures that all therapists learn to address each client using a holistic approach. All therapists, regardless of discipline, cover the same course material. Throughout the course, they assess and treat clients with neuromuscular disorders to gain a thorough under-standing of each individual’s underlying posture and movement impairments and the resultant functional consequences. This provides them with the opportunity to understand the “whole” client in order to develop basic handling skills.

Participants apply the philosophy and principles of Neuro-Developmental Treatment consistent with the laws and regulations of their licensure and scope of practice. Participants must meet attendance
requirements, successfully achieve course objectives, perform effective assessments, develop appropriate intervention strategies, plan and implement effective treatment plans, and successfully pass the standardized final exam and competencies. Once accomplished, an NDTA Certificate of Completion is awarded.

Each Certificate course is taught by an experienced team led by an NDTA Coordinator-Instructor and includes additional NDTA Instructors who have completed a rigorous training process which enables them to provide expertise and mentoring in the disciplines of occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology. All NDTA, Inc. Instructors are required to maintain professional credentials and standards according to guidelines established by the NDTA, Inc.

The NDTA, Inc. Approved Certificate courses are offered in several different formats to meet the needs
of consumers. Each format includes the approved content and required contact hours for their respective course (pediatric and adult). Some courses may include distance learning assignments. Consumers are encouraged to know their learning strengths and styles and to select a course format that best meets their needs.

Curriculum

Each course curriculum (pediatric and adult) includes the following broad topics:

• Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT) philosophy, theoretical basis, and problem-solving framework.
• Current neuroscience information as it relates to Neuro-Developmental Treatment
• Clinical evaluation of individuals who have neuromuscular disorders, including evaluation of their functional activities, limitations, and social roles, as well as their underlying effective and ineffective posture and movement patterns. strengths and impairments.
• Analysis of posture and movement components of functional tasks including locomotion, ADL performance, feeding and communication, and others.
• Development and hands-on implementation of treatment plans using the NDT problemsolving framework to optimize postural control and alignment as a foundation for more efficient and skillful performance of functional skills that will lead to increased participation and an improved quality of life.
• Supervised assessment and hands-on treatment of patients with movement problems due to neuromuscular system pathology, with individual mentoring by NDTA, Inc. course instructors.
• Development of skill in managing the care of individuals across the lifespan, including understanding compensatory movement patterns, the potential medical/health consequences, and the prevention of secondary impairments.
• Use of the interdisciplinary team approach including interaction with other disciplines, utilization of adaptive equipment, and education/training of caregivers in the home and community

Course Learning Objectives

• Analyze effective and ineffective components of posture and movement
• Identify the relationships between function, posture and movement components, and system integrities and impairments in individuals with neuromuscular disorders
• Demonstrate effective NDT clinical reasoning and problem solving, using assessment findings to develop realistic treatment plans
• Develop and implement therapeutic handling strategies that result in changes in the client, including: improved sensorimotor performance, achievement of functional goals, and enhanced participation in meaningful activities

Application Requirements

• Singapore AHPC-registered practitioners
• Covered by professional indemnity insurance
• At least one year’s post graduate experience, and current practice treating children with cerebral palsy or other neuromuscular disorders.
  

Course Instructor

Ms Suzanne Davis Bombria, PT is an internationally recognized and respected clinician, teacher and consultant in the treatment of children with neuromotor impairments. She is unique in that she brings first-hand practical experience to her profession as the mother of a son who has cerebral palsy. As a Neuro-Developmental (NDT) Coordinator-Instructor in paediatrics she conducted over 200 short and long courses for physical, occupational and speech therapists around the world. Her skills have been provided in clinical out-patient, school-based, in-patient rehabilitation, and acute care settings. Areas of expertise in clinical intervention include the intensive model, family education, professional education, program management, staff development, and equipment design. Ms Davis Bombria has written articles that have been feature in Cerebral Palsy Magazine, NDTA Network, and the book, Parent Articles in NDT. She currently resides in Columbia, CT where she has a private practice. The enthusiasm for her work, which expands over thirty years as a paediatric therapist and instructor, along with her easy presentation style, provide the updated theoretical and practical solutions for functional outcomes all therapists can use with their patient population.
 
Ms Bonnie Boenig, has been an Occupational Therapist for over 40 years, an NDTA Instructor for just over 30 years, and she has advanced skills in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (C/NDT and NDTA OT Instructor), Sensory Integration (Certified), Neuromuscular Therapy, and Manual Therapies (Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy). With experience in many different settings, Bonnie is well known for her ability to skillfully blend and integrate assessment and treatment approaches to achieve maximal functional results. Bonnie teaches NDT Pediatric Certificate and Advanced Level NDTA Approved courses, as well as other blended treatment topics in live and virtual continuing education formats nationally and internationally and she has authored numerous published articles.

Ms Monica Wojcik, M.A. CCC-SLP, C/NDT , BCS-S is an NDTA speech instructor in the Basic Paediatric NeuroDevelopmental Course and the Advanced Baby Course. She specializes in the assessment and treatment if the premature infants in the NICU in addition to the oral-motor, feeding, swallowing and respiratory issues in infants and children with neuromotor disorders, Monica is the owner of Paediatric Therapy Associates of South Florida in Plantation, FL where she treats infants and children with a variety of neuromotor disorders. In addition, she is involved in the center’s intensive program that treats children from all over the world. Monica teaches national and international workshops and seminars on the topics of oral motor, feeding/swallowing and respiratory issues in addition to the treatment of the premature baby in the NICU.
 
Mrs Ligia Cristina Jaramillo is originally from Colombia, South America. She has been a Physical Therapist since 1985. She got a master degree in Adult Education from “San Buenaventura University” in Bogotá, Colombia. She worked in the different setting from outpatient, acute hospital to Rehab inpatient in Colombia and the United States. She has been working with children since 1998. She received her NDT certification in 2005 and finished the Advance Baby Course in 2010. Cristina works with Clay County School System in Jacksonville, Florida where she resides with her husband. She has a daughter and a son in college at Florida State University. Cristina has been an adjunct professor in a Flex Doctorate Physical Therapy Program at University of St. Augustine since 2013. She has been an assistant in NDT Pediatric certification course in Plantation, Florida and Peru. She also assisted in an Advance Pediatric NDT course in India and several NDT Short courses in America.
 

Terms and Conditions

• Registration will be confirmed only upon receiving invoice or full payment.

• If the participant is absent without valid reason or without supporting document, full course fees will be charged with no refund

• PCG funding is subjected to approval by NCSS and staff of Social Service Agencies (SSAs) which
  are members of NCSS may receive PCG funding based on a first come first served basis as slots are
  limited.

• Registrants from SSAs who have registered for the course but did not manage to get the funding,
  will pay the full course fees.

• Registrants from non-SSAs will pay the full course fees.

• For courses that are not PCG approved, the full course fees will apply.

• Registration will be confirmed only upon receiving invoice or full payment.

• If the participant is absent without valid reason or without supporting document, full course fees will be charged with no refund

• Participants are only allowed to miss 16 hours with reason out of the 261 training hours in order to successfully complete the course