On Friday, January 31, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences had some much younger guests attend class. As part of the Pediatric Physical Therapy course, Dr. Holloway recruited children under the age of 14 to work with our second year DPT students. The DPT students were performing standardized assessments of motor skills using the Peabody Development Motor Scales and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Essentially, these are motor skill assessments that have the children perform sitting, walking, and running tests. The DPT students then compared their findings with each student to the performance of other children in the same age group.

Baby Day gives our DPT students an authentic opportunity to learn about administration and interpretation of tests commonly used in pediatric physical therapy. The students administer age appropriate tests with guidance from faculty and interpret the score. This lab also gives them the opportunity to practice talking with families and interacting with children, especially smaller children. This year’s event was the 3rd annual Baby Day at the School, which has expanded to an all-day activity with over 12 children, ranging from 4 months to 14 years of age.

This year was also special because of assistance from our two alumni Dr. Sarah Norris and Dr. Sierra Bahr, and our clinical/community partner Erin McLeod from Lakeland Regional Health pictured above.