As adults, many of us are familiar with physical therapy, perhaps from our own treatment of an injury. But how does pediatric physical therapy differ?

Pediatric Physical Therapists (PTs) are movement and mobility experts. Our PTs provide therapy focusing on helping children establish healthy movement and mobility for their bodies. This may include helping support early motor milestones such as head control, sitting, crawling, and walking. For older children, therapy may focus on increasing strength and coordination of muscles and stretching to increase a healthy range of motion. Our PTs work with families to customize adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, orthotics, and bathing equipment.

At Encompass, we are lucky to have two phenomenal Physical Therapists: Nicole Hale, PT, DPT and Abby Choudek, PT, DPT. Both Nicole and Abby have a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. Our PTs provide services in both our Early Intervention (birth to age 3 years) and Pediatric Therapy Clinic settings (birth to age 8 years).

Abby, who comes to us from Minnesota, is our newest PT. Abby loves “helping children learn how to move and be independent so that they have the skills to explore this wonderful world!” When asked her favorite part of her job, she says: “My favorite part about my job is watching the children I treat catch onto skills for the first time. Often times, once they get it, they can’t get enough! It’s always rewarding to see the children so excited as well as the parents realizing their child is gaining skills and independence!”

Nicole, a Washington native, has previously worked in Wisconsin. She has worked in pediatrics for over 10 years and loves helping children learn how to move, as well as teaching and empowering parents to feel confident in helping their children. When asked her favorite part of her job, Nicole shares: “My favorite part of my job is getting to work with children all day, but even more so getting to see how they progress and learn during the course of treatment and beyond. I love when families reach out long after treatment has ended to share a new and exciting thing happening in their children’s lives.”

To continue helping young children gain healthy mobility and movement skills, we are excited to announce our new Early Movers Group, a small group therapy program open to children learning to roll, sit and creep. The group will be limited to 5-7 pairs of parents/caregivers and children per session. Early Movers is the first of a three-part series geared to help children gain motor skills as they grow.

If you’d like more information about the Early Movers Group, please contact Abby Choudek at 971.801.8074 or abigail.choudek@encompassnw.org. If you are interested in scheduling a physical therapy evaluation for your child, please contact Encompass Pediatric Therapy at 425.888.3347. You can learn more about our Pediatric Physical Therapy services here.