Children's Physiotherapy on the Gold Coast
Welcome to Little Skippers Paediatric Physiotherapy.
Little Skippers Paediatric Physiotherapy provides assessment and treatment for children on the Gold & Tweed Coasts. Lisa, your highly skilled children’s physiotherapist, specialises in delivering high quality paediatric physio to children 0 to 16 years of age. This includes kids who are self-managed or plan-managed ECEI or NDIS participants or private clients. Contact us on 0434 680 251 or email us at info@littleskippers.com.au to see how we can help you.
Lisa is passionate about working with families to help their child reach their full potential. For this reason, she established Little Skippers Paediatric Physiotherapy. Lisa aims to provide high quality care to children on the Gold Coast in a convenient, family-centred way.
Lisa is a highly skilled children’s physiotherapist. She has spent 15 years working with children in Australia and the UK and completed a Masters in Advanced Paediatric Physiotherapy in 2018. Lisa has most recently been working as an Advanced Physiotherapist at Queensland Children’s Hospital. Lisa can provide comprehensive therapy programs to suit the needs of your child and family. Find out more…
Our Service
Little Skippers Paediatric Physiotherapy is able to provide assessment, education and advice, exercise prescription, hands-on treatment and equipment prescription (including orthotics, standing frames, seating, mobility aids such as walkers and wheelchairs) for infants through to adolescents.
NDIS support
Little Skipper’s Physiotherapist, Lisa, is able to provide physiotherapy to children who are self-managed or plan-managed ECEI or NDIS participants. importantly, we can tailor your child’s program to meet their ECEI or NDIS plan goals and to work within your ECEI or NDIS budget.
Our Clinic
Our Clinic is located 2 minutes from Exit 87 off the M1 in Burleigh Heads. We are 20 minutes from both Coolangatta and Nerang. Where preferred, Lisa is able to travel to your home, childcare, school or local outdoor space to provide therapy.
Children's physiotherapists can help kids with:
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Developmental delay, including babies born prematurely or who had a difficult neonatal period
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Low muscle tone
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Cerebral Palsy, or "at risk of" cerebral palsy
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Genetic conditions including Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and Prader Willi Syndrome
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Changes in a child's mobility or movement skills following an injury, surgery etc.
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Chronic pain or fatigue
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Joint hypermobility
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Functional neurological disorder (FND)
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Balance or co-ordination difficulties
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Neuromuscular conditions e.g. muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
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Neurological conditions e.g. spina bifida or brachial plexus palsy
Frequently asked questions
How young can a child start physiotherapy?
Infants can start physiotherapy from the time they are born. For example, premmie babies are often seen for physiotherapy while still on the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or special care nursery (SCN). For young infants, physiotherapy is often around handling and positioning. This means offering your child the right opportunities to start to use their muscles. It is particularly important to begin tummy time at a young age when your child is awake and supervised (to comply with SIDS guidelines). This will help them develop strength in their neck muscles. Also, as a general rule, the sooner you begin tummy time the better they are likely to tolerate it.
How often should my child see a paediatric physiotherapist?
This will vary significantly from child to child. The most important principle, however, is that it is not paediatric physiotherapist does monthly, fortnightly or even weekly that makes a difference, but rather what you do each day. Your paediatric physio’s job is to teach you the strategies to use to help your child grow and develop. Your physio will then change and progress these activities as your child makes progress. The frequency of your appointments may also vary over time. For example, your child might need regular appointments initially but later only need infrequent ‘check ins’.
My child is slower than other children on learning their motor skills – what can I do?
Firstly, it is important to be sure there is actually a problem. There is a wide range of timeframes for children to develop their skills. Every child is different, and children develop at varying speeds in different areas. For example, a child might be early with the gross motor milestones and walk at 8 or 9 months but not say their first word until 18 months of age.
A useful tool to check if your child’s development is tracking normally is the Queensland Health Red Flags Tool. This outlines the expected skills for babies and young children. Furthermore, it highlights when a child is demonstrating a delay which is significant enough to warrant seeking help. For example, children typically learn to walk between 12 to 14 months but is recommended to see your doctor only if your child is not yet walking at 18 months, although you may want to consult a paediatric physiotherapist sooner.
How is a paediatric physiotherapist different from any other physiotherapist?
Most paediatric physiotherapists work only with children. This means they have a detailed understanding of normal development in infants and children. Teaching exercises to young children in particular is very different to working with adults. As such, therapy will be ‘play based’ whereby therapeutic activities are hidden within games your child will enjoy. Children also present with a range of conditions which may not be present in adults, or which look very different in adults. Accordingly, paediatric physiotherapists have specialised knowledge of these conditions and their management. Paediatric physiotherapists should also have undertaken further training or study specifically about working with children and children’s conditions. Equipment prescription too can be different in children as adapting equipment to growth and childhood activities is important.
How do I know which children’s physio is right for my child?
The easiest way is to try a few sessions with a paediatric physiotherapist and see how they interact with your child. You need to be mindful, however, that children’s social development can influence how they react. At around 7 months of age children develop ‘stranger danger’ which can make therapy challenging. Depending on the individual child, they may be wary of strangers until 3 to 4 years of age. Despite this, a regular therapist should be able to build rapport with your child and encourage their best performance. A good paediatric physiotherapist should also be able to appreciate your family’s priorities, time commitments etc. Critically, they should be able to and adapt therapy and your child’s home exercise program to fit your family.
My child is awaiting their ECEI/NDIS planning meeting. What do I need to do?
There are several things you can do to be proactive while awaiting your child’s ECEI/NDIS funding approval. Firstly, you need to consider which private children’s physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist etc. you would like and get in touch with them to see what days and times they have available. Many services have waiting lists so it is important to get in touch as soon as possible to confirm availability.
You will also need to think about what your goals for your child are, as this is a question that will be central to your child’s ECEI/NDIS plan. For example, if your goal is for your child to walk, then they would be allocated funding towards sessions with a physio to help them achieve this. If you nominate that you would like your child to be able to tell you what they want using words, then you will be allocated funding to access speech therapy. Start writing down your goals now so you have plenty of time to think through your priorities for the next year or two. It will make your planning meeting much easier if you have thought through these issues first.
Suburbs our paediatric physiotherapy service visits:
Arundel, Ashmore, Benowa, Biggera Waters, Bilambil Heights, Bilinga, Bonogin, Broadbeach, Broadbeach Waters, Bundall, Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters, Carrara, Clear Island Waters, Cobaki, Coolangatta, Currumbin, Elanora, Gilston, Highland Park, Kingscliff, Kingsholme, Labrador, Main Beach, Mermaid Beach, Mermaid Waters, Merrimac, Miami, Molendinar, Mudgeeraba, Nerang, Neranwood, Palm Beach, Parkwood, Reedy Creek, Robina, Southport, Surfers Paradise, Tallai, Tallebudgera, Tallebudgera Valley, Terranora, Tugun, Tweed Heads, Varsity Lakes and Worongary. If your suburb isn’t listed, please contact us to discuss if we are able to provide you with home visits.
NDIS Treatment
Developmental delay, low muscle tone, cerebral palsy, genetic conditions, balance & co-ordination difficulties, Neurological & neuromuscular conditions, Chronic fatigue or pain, Musculoskeletal conditions, etc. NDIS Reports and equipment prescriptions.
Phone: 0434 680 251
Email: info@littleskippers.com.au
Address: Shop 11/2 Mieke Ct, Burleigh Heads QLD 4220