Team at Mackay Centre School offers speech and motor therapy at the same time
Like any exercise enthusiast, Eytan Kurlender loves working out on a treadmill. But the 9-year-old is doing more than just building up a sweat—he’s also getting one-of-a-kind therapy with every step.
The boy takes one giant stride and says “Sssssix.” He takes another and says “Ssssseven.”
“Good job!” exclaims Speech-Language Pathologist Ourania Papanas, who’s watching him alongside Physiotherapist Arlene Rosenberg and Kinesiologist Samantha Quinn.
The curly-haired boy, who has language and coordination impairments, is benefitting from multiple therapies at once—and having fun doing it. It’s thanks to a unique initiative at the Mackay Centre School geared to children from pre-kindergarten to Grade 6.
Instead of doing language drills while seated at a table in a therapy room, children like Eytan are receiving therapy while moving on a treadmill, guided by the combined expertise of a physiotherapist, kinesiologist and speech-language pathologist.
The Interdisciplinary Treadmill Program was developed by our CIUSSS’s Rehabilitation team in Specialized Schools, and it has already proven efficient, effective, and confidence-building for the children.
“It’s helping kids reach goals that they weren’t able to reach when they were sitting in a therapy room. It’s very exciting,” says Emily Lecker, Program Manager for the Rehabilitation Program in Specialized Schools.
“We’re seeing gains in children who may not have made improvements for a few years, and it’s helping to accelerate their progress.”
Emily Lecker
The therapy explores the idea that combining speech with motor therapies offers a form of simultaneous stimulation that can produce better outcomes than targeting the skills separately. In one exercise, for example, Ms. Quinn tosses a ball to Eytan, who carefully enunciates the word “seesaw” while he catches it.
Just like an athlete doing reps at the gym, Eytan is pacing himself, adapting his speech to his movements.
“Just the fact of moving at the same time as learning a speech skill can sometimes open pathways in the brain that we didn’t know needed to be opened,” Ms. Lecker explains.
The enthusiasm for the twice weekly sessions— both by young Eytan and his therapists— is palpable inside the physiotherapy gym at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce school. The therapists say the children arrive eager to learn, and their teachers report that they are more attentive and have better posture in class. Families say the sessions help the children become more autonomous and better able to perform everyday activities such as running or using stairs.
“I’ve seen this program work,” says Ms. Quinn. “It’s creative and rewarding both for me and the child. I’m very passionate about it.”
“We can optimize the performance of our kids in every way—combining language with motor skills, or integrating acts of everyday life. All these things help them learn and grow.”
Speech-Language Pathologist Ourania Papanas
What’s more, the program has developed organically and widened its reach since it was launched in 2021. Founded on a program designed for children with autism, it has expanded to target those with coordination impairments, speech-language disorders, genetic conditions and cerebral palsy.
Ms. Rosenberg started the program and enlarged the team to include a kinesiologist and speech-language pathologists. “Working as a team is such a big part of what we do at Mackay, so it felt natural to expand this program to include an interdisciplinary approach,” she says.
“Collaborating lets us work together on these goals and provide the best possible outcomes for our clients,” she adds.
The therapists say they know of no other program of its kind in Quebec. It is already the subject of a research study by McGill University’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy; and the Lethbridge-Layton-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre of our CIUSSS is now partnering with the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital in Laval to evaluate the program, thanks to funding from the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation (CRIR).
“I’m very proud of our team. They’re incredibly passionate about the program,” Ms. Lecker says. “And their excitement is contagious.”
Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Habilitas Foundation has supported the program since its inception, including essential equipment such as the treadmill.