wiredON Development Interviews

This conversation with sleep specialist Sue McCabe will completely shift how you think about sleep. We talk about why sleep isn't just a nighttime problem, it's a 24-hour concern woven through every aspect of your therapy outcomes. Sue introduces her C-word framework : Comfort (finding what's "just right, right now"), Complexity, Culture, Collaboration, Community, Capacity, Connections, Communicat...

Michael Workman (PT, Bamboo Brace designer, and neurodevelopmental geek with 30 years of floor-time wisdom) joined me for a fascinating deep dive into the hidden power of such a seemingly simple wearable device for such a seemingly simple joint. If you're a therapists who sees the elbows as gateways to whole-body potential, you're going to love what Michael has to say! And if you're a therapist wh...

Nobody becomes a pediatric therapists to make children’s lives miserable, or worse, create pain and life limiting boney deformities and yet, there’s a very real possibility that somewhere along your career path, that’s exactly what your suggestions or recommendations might have done. Now this is a confronting thought , but one that needs some airtime, with a little self-reflection and no judgement...

This was such a fun interview for me to do but be warned, once you’ve listened to Jane and Susie explaining the benefits and mechanism of equine assisted therapy, you are going to want to go find yourself a stable with a few horses and get trained in hippotherapy if you’re not already. . I was genuinely blown away by how the the horse can be used to impact motor learning, and how as therapists we...

From philosophy student and activist to pioneer in early childhood intervention approaches for therapists, Karen Kangas takes us on a journey of developing clinical excellence. She is an occupational therapists with over 50 years of experience, specializing in pediatrics, seating, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She has particular knowledge and expertise in working with child...

James Sultzer is an academic neurorehabilitation engineer and a father to a child with a significant brain injury. This conversation is a raw look at the real state of the evidene in pediatric neurodisability from the someone who is living through the reality of how it supports families to make incredibly difficult decisions as they seek out the best care for their kids. We move from discussing th...

When it comes to understanding how the work that we try to do every day in the clinic actually works, this interview with Dr Susan Barry may be one of the most eye-opening interviews I have done so far - excuse the pun. Dr Barry is a a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience and Behavior and (as she calls herself) a recovered Strabismic. Her story of fixing he...

This interview with the OccuPLAYtional Therapist , Kelsie Olds, is an absolute treat. We cover the realities, practicalities and benefits of child-led therapy, the integration of play in therapeutic practices, push-in vs pull out services, balancing the conflicts that arise from staying true to your core values as a therapist with meeting your service requirements and so much more For links and re...

More than a decade ago, I asked a question which finally gets answered today. The question was 'Why, despite the poor evidence, do intelligent, scientifically minded, educated and experienced therapists still value it? Or do they?' Prof Margaret Mayston exemplifies the intelligent, scientifically minded, educated and experienced therapist. She trained initially as a physiotherapist in Melbourne, A...

Interoception is a key sense that has been widely studied for decades but is only now making its way into clinical applications and Kelly Mahler is an amazing occupational therapists who is leading the way both clinically and academically in understanding the role of this key sense for occupational and physical therapists working in neurodevelopment. Don't miss this practice changing conversation...

A passionate and engaging conversation with Dr Julie Vaughan-Graham, PT, PhD, Advanced IBITA Instructor, Adjunct Clinical Professor at McMaster University and University of Toronto, Canada and Founder of Physio-Logic and iNeuroRehab . Julie shares insights from her research on the Bobath concept, and the importance of postural control, selective movement and movement variability and efficiency. We...

In the evolving landscape of pediatric neurorehabilitation, the emergence of therapeutic coaching has marked a paradigm shift. This approach, which marries therapeutic principles with the empowering dynamics of coaching, is designed to effect profound, tangible changes in the lives of children and their families. Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) is a distinctive coaching methodology that po...

Gerti Motavalli and Dr. Alon share their insights into the work they have been doing with non-invasive spinal stimulation that is changing the lives of many children with Spina Bifida. We dig into both the theoretical and practical application of this this protocol, as well as how it compares to other electrical stimulation approaches in pediatrics. With decades of experience and a background span...

There are many brilliant and passionate therapists in our world of neuromotor development, but few come close to Beverly Cusick in their ability to shape the lives of the children we see. I mean that both at the most pragmatic level where Billi’s teaching of serial casting and orthotic prescription has literally shaped thousands of feet for the better, and her brilliance in developing TheraTogs ha...

Per is a Physiotherapist from Denmark and founder of Solemaids, a custom orthotic for children with Sever’s Disease / calcaneal apophysitis. His passion for feet and running related injuries led him to develop Solemaids more than 20 years ago which he is still supplying from his in-house workshop, despite a global reach. This was a great conversation about what it takes as a therapists to develop...

In part 2 of this interview on spinal neuromodulation with Dr Susan Hastings and Dr Reggie Edgerton, we get into the questions that everyone is asking; how is it different to FES? What is the difference between the different units and parameters? Who does it work on, and more. We dig into some in depth discussions about application and precautions and touch on getting involved in the research. Che...

Dr. Susan Hastings is a physical therapist who stumbled upon the hidden potential of the spinal cord in treating children with cerebral palsy. In her quest to understand what she was seeing clinically, she found Dr. Reggie Edgerton, a pioneer in the field of spinal cord injury recovery. Together they have been exploring the potential of spinal neuromodulation to drive recovery in children with cer...

Maybe not so much the OTs in our world or neurodevelopment, but certainly as PTs we have prioritised motor function over sensory function when we think about how the body works. The more we learn about the importance of the sensory pathways in the sensory-motor loop, the better we get at understanding how, as therapists who can only work from the outside in, we can impact the whole system when we...

There’s nothing I love more than amplifying the voices of passionate clinicians who have the kind of wisdom and insights that can only be found through years of real world real life experiences mixed in with an endlessly curious mind and an irrepressible excitement for whats possible. That’s exactly what Julie Perfect brings to this interview. Years and years of learning, doing, teaching and learn...

It is possible to have been a therapists for 30+ years, worked with hundreds, if not thousands of kids and have completely missed a glaring piece of the puzzle that was hidden in plane sight. That’s how I felt dipping into Dawn Sandalcidis’ world of children's bowel and bladder issues. Guilty that I hadn’t paid enough attention to the conversation with parents about their kids constipation, fascin...

This interview is packed with practical tips, brilliant insights and golden nuggets to take away. We get into the weeds of idiopathic toe-walking, CP and and orthotic devices in but just as importantly, we explore the realities of bringing clinical work and evidence based practice into alignment (excuse the pun). Because this interview has such a practical focus, I do need to state that all advice...

This is part 2 of Anat Baniel’s 2 part interview. In part one we dived into understanding the 9 essentials and contrasting them with some of our more contemporary approaches in physical and occupational therapy. In part two we get into some hot topics and Anat answers questions sent in by curious wired on listeners. Anat is in equal measure passionate, emphatic and open-minded. I loved her thought...

I hold curiosity and an open mind as two of my most precious values and so I love nothing more than to step off the straight and narrow in search of treasures and possibilities. I am struck however by how much synergy there is in what thought leaders and master clinicians that I’ve interviewed are saying - and how Anat has packaged these up in her 9 essentials. Such seemingly opposing philosophies...

If you've ever wished for a blueprint that would guide you through the process of becoming an exceptional clinician, then you want to sit down with me for a chat with Jean-Pierre Maes. Jean-Pierre has packaged his years of learning, his experience, and unmatched clinical reasoning and analysis skills into the MAES therapy approach. This approach gives therapist the skills to understand the clinica...

W-sitting, Botox, walking vs wheelchairs, fixing vs participation and the inside view on RCTs and Evidence Based Practice. These are just a few of the hairy topics that came up for discussion as I sat down to talk about childhood disability and the F-words with Professor Peter Rosenbaum. Peter is the co-founder of CanChild, arguably one of the most innovative leaders in childhood disability resear...