Eileen Ricci coordinates course on qualitative assessment of Prechtl’s General Movements

Eileen Ricci, PT, DPT, MS, PCS, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, coordinated a basic training course on Prechtl’s Method of Qualitative Assessment of General Movements, which was held on the Portland campus June 26-29, 2013. The four day course prepares experienced pediatric clinical practitioners to use this new assessment to assist in the early identification of infants who have cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders.
 

Compelling evidence is now available that qualitative assessment of General Movements, a specific type of spontaneous movement, under the age of five months is the best predictor of cerebral palsy. This early identification is key to early treatment and family support.

The course was presented by Christa Einspieler, Ph.D., an Austrian physiologist who has worked with Heinz Prechtl, Dmed, Dphil, and other researchers on many of the seminal studies and articles published over the past 20 years related to this assessment tool.

Participants included physical therapists, occupational therapists, and neonatologists from across the country and from Canada and South America. Prior to the training at UNE, this course had only been taught once before in the continental United States.
 

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