DMI

In the spirit of providing innovative and market leading therapy, here at RVCP we use Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI) to better meet patients' needs and help improve their gross motor skills.

Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI) is a therapeutic technique used in physiotherapy to treat children with gross motor delay by improving automatic postural responses and help each child progress towards their developmental milestones (i.e. rolling, sitting, four-point,  crawling, standing, walking and transitions). This type of intervention stimulates neuroplasticity to enable your child's brain to form new synaptic connections in order to learn new skills.

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Who is DMI for?

Regardless of level of cognition and extent of neurological damage/deficit, affected children benefit from DMI motor intervention as it encourages neuroplasticity stimulation in the developing brain.

Children diagnosed with any type of motor delay including conditions such as; Down Syndrome, Cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, hypotonia, genetic disorders/chromosomal abnormalities, spinal cord lesions or acquired brain injury could benefit from this form of treatment.

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What happens during DMI?

During your session, the Physiotherapist will identify areas of deficit to guide your child's treatment. The Physio chooses exercises that will challenge the child’s neurological system to the highest skill potential as well as exercises that solidify their core and foundational milestones. Exercises involve movement against gravity, progressively reducing clinician support, provocation of desired movements, in addition to postural and strength challenges. 

During a treatment session the child will complete many different exercises which provide novel and varied sensory and motor challenges, and each exercise is repeated approximately 5 times. Exercises may be repeated from session to session until the movements become reflexive or automatic, which results in improved balance and function. Exercises are conducted on a tabletop or the floor based on your child's abilities.
DMI Therapy works well alongside other therapeutic techniques and therapy equipment. These can often be combined in a treatment session to provide better alignment and enhance optimal outcomes.

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DMI focuses on:

1. Gross motor skills – Improving gross motor skills of children from birth by developing automatic motor movement. (Promotes Neurological Maturity )

2. Gradual progression – Continuously increasing the challenge to encourage the child to respond with greater independence.

3. Alignment and Postural Control - All exercises focus on optimal anatomical alignment and stimulate postural control and verticality.

4. Range of Motion - Muscle and joint range of motion is achieved by movement (Dynamical and functional stretching).  

5. Balance – Improved balance is a common thread through most DMI exercises.

6. Functional movements – Improving actions and skills that lead to attaining milestones such as rolling, sitting, standing, and walking.

7. Somatosensory Development - The strong sensory information provided by the exercises sends afferent messages to the brain to create specialized synapses that fine tune balance, muscle control, and movement.

8. Modifying tone, primitive reflexes, and abnormal patterns of movement - DMI strives to provide normalized movement patterns to children with neurological dysfunction to assist with the integration of disruptive primitive reflexes.

9. Global Development - DMI focuses on gross motor skills, however, many other skills develop as a byproduct of this intensive intervention.