Children's Mercy physical therapists participate in multidisciplinary clinics including the following:

Autism Clinic

• Occupational therapists are an integral part of the multidisciplinary team in autism clinic. Therapists provide evaluation services including standardized testing and clinical observation of gross and fine motor skills, sensory integrative processing, and assessment of independent functioning in age-appropriate activities of daily living. They also provide recommendations  for educational developmental therapies and family education.  For further information, please contact the Developmental Medicine clinic at (816) 234-3674.  For more information on autism, please click here  Autism Information. 

Brachial Plexus Clinic

• The brachial plexus clinic is a comprehensive clinic for the evaluation of children that have sustained a brachial plexus injury. Each child is evaluated by the Brachial Plexus team and given an individualized plan of care. The team consists of two occupational therapists, a physiatrist, nurse practitioner, orthopedic surgeon, and plastic surgeon. The brachial plexus clinic is held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday mornings for new evaluations or follow-up appointments. There is also a Thursday afternoon clinic held on the 4th Thursday of the month for those patients and families considering surgical options. For further information, please call Vicki Keck, RN at 816-234-3970 or Andrea Melanson, OTR at 816-234-3380.  

Burn Clinic

• Physical and occupational therapists work closely with physicians, nursing, and other ancillary services to provide comprehensive follow-up burn care. Therapists provide evaluations and recommendations for exercise and scar management. Services include measurement and fitting of pressure garments, splinting, casting, home exercise programs, outpatient therapies, and family education.

Cleft Palate Clinic

• Occupational therapists are part of the multidisciplinary team in cleft palate clinic.  Therapists assess children who are identified as having oral motor or feeding issues above and beyond those typically experienced by children with craniofacial or cleft palate conditions.  Such difficulties could include aspiration and other swallow incoordination, difficulty chewing, and difficulty drinking. For more information, please click here Cleft Palate Clinic.

Down Syndrome Clinic

• Occupational therapist's are part of the multidisciplinary team in Down Syndrome Clinic. The clinic serves as a consultative service and screening mechanism for children with Down Syndrome from birth through adolescence, following the Health Care Guidelines created by the National Network of Medical Clinics for Children with Down syndrome. The occupational therapist provides recommendations for developmental motor skills, feeding dysfunction, independent life skills, and educational therapy recommendations. 

Hand Clinic

• Occupational Therapists work closely with the orthopedic physicians in a weekly hand clinic to provide services including splint fabrication, measurement for pressure garments to assist with scar management and edema control, range of motion and strengthening exercises, as well as adaptive technique instruction for activities of daily living as needed.  For more information, please contact our clinic at (816) 234-3380.

Hemophilia Clinic

• Physical therapists are part of the multidisciplinary team in the Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center. Therapists participate in clinic on a monthly basis as well as providing direct care for inpatients and outpatients with bleeding disorders. Outreach clinics are held in Springfield, Missouri and Wichita, Kansas for comprehensive evaluations. Therapy interventions include a physical therapy evaluation of the musculoskeletal system and recommendations for home programming including exercises and joint protection techniques. The physical therapists are active in the National Hemophilia Foundation and participate in data collection for the CDC.

• Nerve and muscle clinic is designed to provide diagnostic workup and ongoing rehabilitation management for various neuromuscular diseases such as muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy as well as other nerve and muscle disorders. The therapists contribute to this clinic by performing comprehensive evaluations including range of motion, strength, functional abilities including pulmonary functioning and provide recommendations for therapy and equipment needs.

Orthopedic Sports Clinic

Pediatric Amputee Clinic

• The Pediatric Amputee Clinic serves those children birth to 18 years of age with congenital or traumatic upper or lower limb deficiencies by combining the expertise of a pediatric rehabilitation physician with that of a pediatric nurse, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a prosthetist. Children and their families learn prosthetic management and developmental skills that enable them to better function within their home and community environments.

PHIT Kids Clinic

• PHIT Kids (Promoting Health in Teens and Kids) is a weight management clinic which is staffed by a pediatrician, pediatric nurse practitioner, registered dietitian, social worker and physical therapsit.  This program is appropriate for families who are concerned about their child's weight and health and are committed to making changes as a family.

Rheumatology Clinic

• Physical and occupational therapists are part of the multidisciplinary team in rheumatology clinic. This includes treatment of children with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases such as arthritis, lupus, vasculitis, dermatomyositis, scleraderma, and mechanical pain syndrome. Therapists work with the team in rheumatology clinic one day per week, and are also involved in treatment of patient’s on an inpatient and outpatient basis depending upon the patient’s needs. Therapists also participate in an annual summer camp for children with rheumatic diseases. Rheumatology

• The multidisciplinary team in seating clinic uses a comprehensive and effective approach for evaluating a child's mobility and positioning needs, recommending an appropriate seating system, obtaining and fitting the seating system, and providing education and instruction to the child and family specific to the wheelchair they have selected. Our staff also assists families in exploring their funding options. Adaptive car seat evaluations are also available.

• Spinal defects clinic is a multidisciplinary clinic for the evaluation of children with spinal cord anomalies. Physical and occupational therapists work closely with physicians, nurses, and other ancillary services to provide on-going data collection on neurological status including gross and fine motor evaluations and recommendations for home programs, equipment needs, family education, outpatients therapies, and school-based educational services.

• Physical therapists are part of the multidisciplinary team in tone management clinic to provide patient's and families with options to assist with management of muscle tone (spasticity). A comprehensive evaluation and recommendations for tone management options which can include but not limited to oral medications, botox© , baclofen pump, rhizotomy, and orthopedic surgery. The team works with the families to provide education and recommendations for management of spasticity.