Pediatric physical therapy: Part I. Practice scope, scientific basis, and theoretical foundation

Widespread change has occurred in pediatric physical therapy and in the scientific and theoretical foundations of the specialty since the poliomyelitis epidemics in the 1890s. The focus in this first article of a two-part series is on the scope of clinical practice, scientific basis, and theoretical foundation of pediatric physical therapy. In the second article, methods of assessing and treating movement dysfunction and physical disability will be addressed, as well as analyses of efficacy studies.