Sitting is a place needed for each day actions. Through the day we sit to eat, work or calm down. Sitting functionally for these numerous actions appears easy however is complicated below the floor, involving interplay of postural and trunk muscle mass. That is necessary for a therapist to know when instructing youngsters with disabilities who spend a lot of their day in a seated place. The variations in passive and energetic sitting postures have an effect on the general perform of kids with disabilities.
Passive Sitting and Well being Concerns
Sitting in a resting place is named passive sitting. When stress-free in a reclined place comparable to one supplied by a solar porch lounge or a snug lounge sofa, the higher physique and head are leaning again and the ft are supported. On this posture, muscle mass are at relaxation and gravity relaxes the physique into the seat. For youngsters with vital bodily disabilities who spend lengthy hours in a wheelchair or stroller, extended passive sitting could cause issues. Within the reclined place, youngsters have little alternative for impartial motion as a result of they don’t have the energy to beat gravity. Because of this, a toddler could sit with their head tilted again or flopped ahead. This doesn’t essentially imply they’re drained or bored; quite the opposite, it could consequence from low muscle tone and the necessity for higher positioning.
Extended passive positioning contributes to a number of points, together with decreased eye contact and social interplay – think about staring on the ground or ceiling all day. Moreover, the head-down place ends in rounded again and shoulders, limiting lung growth and making respiratory and talking tough.1 Consuming and swallowing skill can be adversely affected by poor trunk and head positioning.1 Furthermore, flexion contractures can emerge over time on account of extended sitting, and lack of bodily exercise and enough time in an upright posture.
Many wheelchairs and strollers place youngsters in a passive sitting place, which can be needed for transport. It is important, nevertheless, to acknowledge the disadvantages of extended time spent in these gadgets. A toddler will ceaselessly slide ahead with their pelvis in a sacral sitting place, even after simply thirty minutes in a wheelchair.2 One other downside of most wheelchairs is that they aren’t practical for each day actions.3 They’re tough to maneuver across the residence to entry a sink for hand-washing or tooth-brushing, and to deliver to a desk for household meals or companionship throughout homework time. The seat is just too excessive for enjoyable instances on the carpet with household or pets. Being at eye stage with friends is crucial for social improvement and psychological well-being.4
Step-by-Step Lively Sitting for Operate
A toddler’s long-term well being and social future could be fortified by alternatives for energetic sitting; adaptive seating tools can change the image. It’s well known that guided postural positioning in an adaptive chair produces excellent outcomes for perform and well being. Your bodily therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist are finest geared up to supply this recommendation on a private stage, however listed here are some fundamental positioning ideas.
- Regulate the seat depth to completely assist the underside of the kid’s thighs, leaving area of about an inch behind the knees to keep away from rubbing.
- Place the kid’s hips (pelvis) in a barely forward-angled (anteriorly tilted) place and use a seatbelt or pelvic harness to safe the hips in place in the back of the chair seat.
- Encourage hip abduction with knees aside.5
- Present assist below the ft. When the ft are firmly planted, the physique could be stabilized and balanced.6 Adjusting the peak and angle of the footboard could make a distinction in offering enough foot contact.
- Putting the kid’s forearms on a tray or desk floor permits the arms to help with weight-bearing and might set up higher postural management of the higher physique, neck and head.7, 8, 9
- Trial the place of the seat, experimenting between a horizontal and a barely forward-tilted place of the seat floor. Observe your little one’s head management and his/her skill to achieve, and resolve which seat angle place is finest for the actual exercise you might be doing.
View this video for an indication of adjusting the Exercise Chair for an energetic, practical sitting place:
Well being Advantages of Lively Sitting
Doing the entire above helps to supply a steady base of assist that may promote higher postural management of the trunk, arms and head.10, 11, 12 Additionally, you will see enhancements in respiration; respiratory and coughing will develop into simpler.13, 14, 15 It’s possible you’ll even discover will increase in drooling and coughing up of mucous and fluids when a toddler is first positioned in a practical, forward-leaning place, exhibiting how this new posture assists clearing of the lungs. Begin with quick classes and step by step enhance time because the lungs start to clear and the postural muscle mass develop into stronger.8
With an energetic sitting place, communication improves as properly. Many youngsters are non-verbal, and this energetic sitting aids their physique language and facial expressions. For the kid, a greater visible discipline not solely improves their high quality of life however in some circumstances affords the opportunity of improved eye-gaze communication.1 As a result of energetic sitting, by way of higher alignment of the shoulders relative to the hips, promotes hand performance, eye-hand coordination and activation of the postural muscle mass, it will probably additionally end in more practical use of communication gadgets.16
Good sitting posture and head alignment additionally enhance consuming and ingesting considerably. Liquid and meals could be retained within the mouth extra successfully, and swallowing is less complicated. Kids could even progress from bottle to cup ingesting and from consuming blended to chopped or cut-up meals.17 Secure swallowing entails a sure sample of closing the lips, the motion of the tongue, and shutting of the airway because the meals is moved from the mouth, down the throat to the abdomen. A very good head and trunk place can scale back the kid’s threat of aspiration and associated well being points comparable to pneumonia.
Postural management has a giant affect on arm perform.17, 18 In an adaptive chair, the angle of the seat itself can affect using the arms. It’s best to evaluate every little one individually to find out whether or not they do higher with the seat floor flat or tilted barely ahead.20 In some circumstances, a ahead tilt of the seat floor can enhance the kid’s arm motion management.21 For instance, youngsters with spastic hemiplegia (just one aspect is affected) reveal improved reaching skill when the seat is tilted ahead. Alternatively, youngsters with bilateral spastic CP (each legs affected) do higher with the seat left horizontal.22, 23
Sit-to-Stand Transfers from the Lively Sitting Place
The energetic, practical sitting place could be step one towards sit-to-stand transfers. Deliberately positioning the chair seat larger and tilted ahead helps the kid transfer extra simply from sitting to standing as they switch out of the chair. Kids who reveal the flexibility to carry out this energetic sit-to-stand switch shall be extra prone to be impartial in strolling sooner or later. 24
Introducing Weight-Bearing within the Lively Sitting Place
Kids who haven’t any weight-bearing skill by way of their legs may also be helped. Their ft ought to be firmly planted on the ground or footboard of the chair. The seat ought to be angled right into a ahead tilt, bringing the kid’s heart of gravity ahead. The physique will reply naturally by urgent down by way of the ft to maneuver the hips and pelvis to the again of the chair seat and to straighten the backbone.
Some youngsters could solely tolerate this place for brief segments at first – maybe solely fifteen seconds. However with persistent apply, weight-bearing skill improves. A tray or desk in entrance of the chair could assist with the gradual introduction of weight-bearing as properly. Place this floor shut sufficient so the kid can relaxation their arms on it to stabilize their trunk for an upright place. As a result of this place is safe, the butterfly harness or chest strap could also be cautiously (quickly) eliminated to permit the kid to realize consciousness of their physique and their capabilities to actively have interaction their arms and core muscle mass to keep up this place. In time, improved head management emerges, and you will notice your little one holding this posture for longer durations.6
It’s thrilling to comprehend that by way of introducing energetic seating and postural modifications, a toddler can develop into rather more practical and energetic. It’s price discovering even one second throughout a toddler’s day once you may give them this apply alternative. Seeing the gradual good points your little one will obtain over time will make an effort price it.
