Publications by authors named "Shirley Ackerman Laufer"

For individuals with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD, respectively), transitioning to adulthood presents significant challenges. Although considerable attention has been given to facilitating medical transitions due to the complexity of these conditions, less focus has been placed on other aspects of the transition, such as achieving independence. This study assessed the transition needs of people with DMD or BMD, exploring various domains including health, education, employment, living arrangements, transportation, daily activities, and independent personal life.

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Introduction: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a prevalent diagnosis in pediatric rehabilitation. Gross motor skills are often affected by ABI and limit the ability to participate in various physical activities. However, as ABI injury location is diverse, children and adolescents (youth) with localized ABI, such as ABI in the posterior fossa (ABI-PF) may present unique and different motor disabilities than youth with ABI on account of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

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Aims: To create a standardized home exercise therapy program that could be implemented by international sites to provide a consistent level of therapeutic intervention for pediatric patients participating in an ongoing Phase-III, randomized, controlled trial of repeat abobotulinumtoxinA injections for pediatric upper limb spasticity (NCT02106351).

Methods: Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and medical doctors worked collaboratively to design an exercise therapy program to be implemented in the home setting. In this article, we describe the development process and the finalized program that is currently being used in the Phase-III trial.

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