Welcome to the first Journal Club of Season 5! We are diving into a really interesting article for today’s episode. While new, from 2025, we felt it was an important article to cover because it is a great example of how VR can be incorporated with treating autistic patients and is a great example for us to review how to critique study design aspects and outcomes, which you will need to know how to do to be successful on your PCS exam. Thanks for joining us!

Abdel Ghafar, M. A., Abdelraouf, O. R., Harraz, E. M., Seyam, M. K., Morsy, W. E., Amin, W. M., & Abd-Elfattah, H. M. (2025). Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Helps to Improve Postural Balance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Control Trial. Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics, 45(4), 423–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/01942638.2025.2466555

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If you listened to last week’s episode, we talked about our grouping strategy for genetic syndromes that you’ll need to know for the PCS exam. We had many of our listeners ask for a more in depth review too, so today’s episode will be a deep dive into the 2023 article about 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. We’ll be reviewing things to know for each system and bring all that knowledge together to discuss how you could see questions about this syndrome on the PCS exam and where it fits into our genetic syndrome grouping method. 

Óskarsdóttir, S., Boot, E., Crowley, T. B., Loo, J. C. Y., Arganbright, J. M., Armando, M., Baylis, A. L., Breetvelt, E. J., Castelein, R. M., Chadehumbe, M., Cielo, C. M., de Reuver, S., Eliez, S., Fiksinski, A. M., Forbes, B. J., Gallagher, E., Hopkins, S. E., Jackson, O. A., Levitz-Katz, L., Klingberg, G., … McDonald-McGinn, D. M. (2023). Updated clinical practice recommendations for managing children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics, 25(3), 100338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gim.2022.11.006

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Today’s episode of Pushing Pediatrics is a reference guide to understanding common genetic syndromes you’ll likely see in practice. Instead of memorizing every genetic syndrome while studying, group syndromes with similar clinical themes together. This will not only be easier to study, but will help you think about these syndromes with regards to their functional status and apply them clinically. We’ll be going over some example patient clusters and sharing our “PT pearls” for these groups you should be thinking about while studying for the PCS exam.

Catalino, T., Bloyer, M., Shamus, E., & Miles, C. (Eds.). (2024). Guide to pediatric physical therapy: A clinical approach (1st ed.). McGraw‑Hill Education. 

Valvano, J. (2004). Activity-Focused Motor Interventions for Children with Neurological Conditions. Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics, 24(1–2), 79–107. 

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Welcome back to Pushing Pediatrics - your favorite study supplementation for the PCS exam! We have had 4 successful seasons thanks to you all, our listeners! And a special thank you to those of you who subscribe to our Friday episodes. We are so excited to be bringing you Season 5 of the Pushing Pediatrics Podcast and plan to make it our best season yet.

Today we are going to dive into the DSP, the Description of Specialty Practice in Pediatric Physical Therapy and how to utilize it as the anchor to your PCS test prep. We’ll be covering tips and strategies on how to be thinking of different aspects of the DSP while studying, a little about what test questions may be like on the PCS exam, and how to integrate your previous clinical knowledge with info from the DSP to think like a pediatric specialist. 

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We know it’s getting close to crunch time, which is why we will be going over a couple of case studies today to further help you prepare to take the PCS! We are going to break down these case studies into ways you may see questions presented on the PCS exam, but also to help you apply the knowledge you already have and utilize your memory recall. Do your best to follow along with today’s episodes without your notes! Head over to our Instagram page to see these case studies with prompts listed out, but we will only be going through them in detail on today’s episode!

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This week Sheila and Sara will be going over the equipment available and used for our pediatric patients. This episode will be more general, covering the main types of equipment detailed in Campbell. However, if you are looking for a deep dive, please review the chapter on Assistive Technology in Campbell’s 6th edition. We also have episodes in previous seasons covering the Assistive Technology chapter as well as the information in Campbell’s 5th edition. We bring you this episode knowing some of you have a large experience with equipment and some of you have none. Hopefully this episode will help you along your studying journey! You got this!

Glickman LB, Geigle PR, Paleg GS. A systematic review of supported standing programs. J Pediatr Rehabil Med. 2010;3(3):197-213. doi: 10.3233/PRM-2010-0129. PMID: 21791851.

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Welcome back to Pushing Pediatrics! Today we will be going over the use of orthotics in the pediatric population. While we have discussed orthotics at some length in previous episodes (episode 30 - Down Syndrome and episodes 8 & 10 - Pathological Gait), we feel this subject deserves its own episode too! Please reference today’s episode in conjunction with your copy of Campbell’s 6th edition and those listed previous episodes for a complete review. We will also be discussing orthotics as it pertains to our own personal practice experiences. We hope you find today’s episode helpful!

Weber A, Martin K. A systematic review of the efficacy of orthoses for children with hypotonia. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2014;26:38-47.

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We have another article review to bring to you on today’s episode! As there is yet to be a clinical practice guideline (CPG) for this patient population, this article gives a great insight into how current PTs manage children with down syndrome, what assessment tools they utilize, and interventions they prioritize. Sheila and Sara will explore the contents of this paper and discuss the implications for clinical practice as well as board exam preparation. 

“Johnson R, Looper J, Fiss A. Current Trends in Pediatric Physical Therapy Practice for Children With Down Syndrome. Pediatric Physical Therapy. 2021;33(2):74-81. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000781”

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Thanks for joining today for another episode of Pushing Pediatrics. Today Sara and Sheila will be reviewing an article you can find below in the show notes on the effectiveness of serial casting and ankle foot orthosis for toe walking children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We will be discussing the methodology, results, and implications for practice as Pediatric Physical Therapists. Our intent for this review is to provide some actionable insights for practicing PTs but also to cover some board exam prep as this is a newer article that could be testable material. We hope you find today’s episode helpful! 

“Barkocy M, Schilz J, Heimerl S, Chee M, Valdez M, Redmond K. The Effectiveness of Serial Casting and Ankle Foot Orthoses in Treating Toe Walking in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatric Physical Therapy. 2021;33(2):83-90. doi:10.1097/PEP.0000000000000784”

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Sheila and Sara are back from holiday break with a new episode! Today we will be breaking down the different classifications of Myelomeningocele from the article listed below in the show notes and discussing why it is so relevant for Pediatric PTs. Don’t forget to join us for our subscription only episode on Friday to test your knowledge from this episode!

“Rojas AM, Karakostas T. Myelomeningocele: a new functional classification. J Child ­ Orthop 2021;15:1-5. DOI: 10.1302/1863-2548.15.200248”

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