PISCATAWAY, NJ, May 23, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Bala M. Pillai, the owner of Functional Physical Therapy, has been recognized by Worldwide Who's Who for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in physical therapy and developmental neurology.

As a physical therapist who consults in the educational environment, Ms. Pillai aims to change the perceptions that many school administrators and staff entertain concerning the role of physical therapy. She understands the ways that physical therapists may be used as a resource for teachers in assisting students with neurologically based behavioral and academic challenges.

One of Ms. Pillai's goals is to empower teachers and parents alike with effective strategies that will enable them to help children struggling with an immature nervous system, thus, optimizing their educational experience. Teachers and parents often become overwhelmed with diagnoses, such as autism, ADHD, and various learning disabilities, and have yet to make the connection between movement and learning. Many people do not understand how movement relates to brain growth and therefore, children's behavioral and academic success.

For the last 15 years, Ms. Pillai has delivered pediatric physical therapy services for autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, cerebral palsy, Asperger's syndrome, learning disabilities and developmental delays, within public schools through her company - Functional Physical Therapy. She provides parents with educational workshops and individual consultations in order to help them understand their child's diagnosis as it relates to school functioning. She helps parents understand children's individualized education programs and 504 plans. She also supports parents as they help their children with their everyday routines. Empowering parents in understanding their children's needs is one of the most gratifying aspects of her career. She delivers them effective strategies for calming and organizing their children, and encouraging brain maturity.

Ms. Pillai believes that fitness and wellness goals are crucial to a child's wellbeing, and to that end, she places great emphasis on introducing parents and students to free community resources. She even went one step further and provided customized tricycles to 15 of her students in the past two years through donations from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the therapeutic trike company, National AMBUCS. "As physical therapists, we also have the opportunity to enable their fitness and wellness goals in fun-filled, age-appropriate social activities. Besides that, we capitalize on what we know about neural plasticity and motor learning to help their brains restructure their neural pathways and minimize their challenges," Ms. Pillai explained. "To add to these challenges, children within the autistic spectrum or with developmental coordination disorder may be able to walk and run to some extent, however, their ability to stop or turn at will, which are basic requirements to play tag, is yet to develop -- and may never develop if not exposed to it appropriately," she explains. Thus, Ms. Pillai encourages activities like walking fast, hopping on one foot, galloping, skipping (part of a first grader's movement repertoire) which is lacking in these children and that contributes to their challenges in socializing with their neurotypical peers even more. "Any activity that involves grading their movement, timing, rhythm and coordination is an even bigger challenge, so their inability to keep up with their peers increases exponentially as they move up the elementary grades, thus increasing their risk for non participation during gym period and becoming "bench warmers", thus isolating them from their peers even more and decreasing their self esteem significantly. A poor self esteem can affect every aspect of the student's life," concludes Ms. Pillai.

Ms. Pillai also provides support to staff members so that they understand how to work with children who learn differently than the majority of other students. She attends students' individualized education program meetings, and provides therapy in individual or group sessions, employing "whole brain learning" strategies through the products of Brain Gym, HeartMath, Educational Kinesiology and TestEdge. She also uses play therapy within the framework of a structured therapy session, which makes use of vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile and auditory systems. Furthermore, she conducts neurological assessments, and writes student progress reports.

Ms. Pillai aims to bring awareness to the connection between movement and brain growth, and thus, the behavior or academic challenges children may be faced by, through her active involvement with the American Physical Therapy Association and the school-based Autism Task Force. At the moment, she is also pursuing a doctoral degree in physical therapy through Northeastern University, which she feels will increase her credibility with administrators and law makers.

A graduate of New York University, Ms. Pillai holds a Master of Arts in physical therapy and developmental disabilities, as well as a postgraduate diploma in rehabilitation and a Bachelor of Science in physical therapy. In addition, she is certified in children's Yoga, HeartMath and Brain Gym, specifically in the area of educational kinesiology.

Ms. Pillai is also a clinical specialist in pediatric physical therapy through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. She is one of only 24 therapists in New Jersey to hold this accreditation. To obtain board certification, she was required to provide evidence of clinical experience in pediatrics and pass a thorough written exam. Even though it is not required of Ms. Pillai to hold so many additional qualifications for serving the pediatric population, she believes that pediatrics is a specialization that needs education beyond the basic curriculum. Providing physical therapy services within the school environment is very different than doing so through a medical model in a hospital or outpatient setting.

With 25 years of field experience, Ms. Pillai remains truly passionate about her work, and she aims to continue delivering her pediatric patients the most up-to-date treatments available. When she is able to help a patient, particularly a child, improve his or her quality of life, she receives a great sense of satisfaction. She remains involved in the field through the American Physical Therapy Association and the World Health Organisation of Pediatric Physical Therapists. She hopes to share her outcomes with other therapists and contribute towards awareness courses for physical therapists regarding ASD and explore opportunities for involvement with reliable organizations like the IDEA Partnership and the CDC.

For more information about Functional Physical Therapy and the innovative services it provides, visit http://www.functional-pt.com, http://www.functional-pt.com/braingym.html, and http://www.functional-pt.com/heartmath.html.

Visit http://idea.ed.gov/ for information about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; http://www.ambucs.com/general-info/ for information about National AMBUCS, Inc/Amtryke LLC; www.cdc.gov for information on The Centers for Disease Control webbite and http://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/documents/autismguidelines.pdf for information on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

About Worldwide Who's Who
With over 500,000 members representing every major industry, Worldwide Who's Who is a powerful networking resource that enables professionals to outshine their competition, in part through effective branding and marketing. Worldwide Who's Who employs similar public relations techniques to those utilized by Fortune 500 companies, making them cost-effective for members who seek to take advantage of its career enhancement and business advancement services.

Worldwide Who's Who membership provides individuals with a valuable third-party endorsement of their accomplishments, and gives them the tools needed to brand themselves and their businesses effectively. In addition to publishing biographies in print and electronic form, it offers an online networking platform where members can establish new professional relationships.

For more information, please visit http://www.worldwidewhoswho.com.

Contact:
Ellen Campbell
Director, Media Relations
[email protected]

# # #