Welcome to Angelfish Therapy®!
Here at Angelfish, we help children with a variety of special needs, sensory issues, and motor coordination difficulties reach their full potential through fun and challenging aquatic therapy sessions, swim lessons, and even land-based therapy. We work with children individually, in small groups, in parent/child classes, and in summer camp settings to improve their motor skills and enhance their learning potential. We also educate other therapists, swim instructors, care givers, and parents about how to use the water to improve a child’s motor skills and overcome sensory issues to learn how to swim.
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January is First Timer Month
Angelfish Therapy is featuring First and Second Timers during the month of January. These sessions showcase children with a variety of diagnosis who are experiencing aquatic therapy for the first time.
Beginning Treatment – 2nd Session
In this second visit, this child has already improved from clinging to the therapists neck when she first started. The OT has used rhythmical movements, proprioception, and deep pressure to help the child feel more comfortable in the pool.
As her body awareness improves, she is able to work on extension rotation, prone extension and grasping an object off the side of the pool.
The child’s speech therapist noticed she was more vocal after sessions in pool (she goes to speech therapy after the session).
What is Water Therapy
Working in the water allows children to perform and learn movements that would otherwise be too difficult to do on land. Returning to their land-based program provides them the opportunity to practice movements which have become more skilled in the water.
Physiological benefits of an 88-92 degree pool include: decreased pain, increased range of motion, decreased sensitivity of sensory nerve endings and increased joint range of motion.
Physiological benefits of vestibular stimulation from buoyancy and resistance include: changing and improving the ability to integrate sensory information.
Viscosity of the water allows time for a child to react and experiment with the consequences of movement.
Hydrostatic pressure improves circulation, increases the work of breathing and gives 360 degrees of deep pressure.
Camp Angelfish
Camp Angelfish is an overnight camp for 3 different types of children. We rent the beautiful facilities on Lake Winnepesaukee and provide traditional camp experiences under the guidance of Co-directors who are occupational and physical therapists.
Children come to this camp with one 24 hour aide or a group of 2 or 3 children share there own aide. Additionally, we offer a sibling program for families to enjoy thie leisure experience.
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Benefits of Water Therapy
We have had great success with a variety of diagnoses including:
- Hypotonia
- Cerebral Palsy
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Congenital Disorders
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Chromosomal Abnormality
- Sensory Integration Disorders
- General Developmental Delay
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- and more!
Handling Techniques
Handling Techniques is a 45-minute instructional DVD that will guide you through aquatic treatments of children with physical challenges such as Cerebral Palsy, Rett’s Syndrome, sensorimotor impairment and autism spectrum disorder.
You will watch treatment sessions while the OT or PT are explaining what they are doing and why they are doing it.
