I just received a set of the preschool TheraTogs to use as trial for some of my kiddos and was totally amazed and excited at my initial results and thought I would share for the purpose of further discussion… My little 3-year-old girl with diplegia did amazingly well. She was not happy initially donning the garment, but once on said she felt more steady standing. She even lifted and carried some quite heavy objects without falling… something she would never have attempted otherwise. Another little 3-year-old with mild spastic quadriplegia tolerated it well… and she has major undressing issues…

I am a huge fan of the TheraTogs … Finally I feel like there is something to reinforce what I have to offer the families during my visit. I have seen great results and positive feedback from excited parents where children have made breakthroughs achieving goals. As a bonus, I am finding the carryover for strengthening is better as the parents remember to incorporate a strategy more when there is a constant reminder; eg, “wrap straps around the weak abdominals and hips” equals “do an activity the PT suggested for abdominals and hip strength.

We appreciate the time we were able to trial the adult loaner… Overall we feel pretty good but did want to see if there was any handouts/information for utilizing the pieces for upper extremity. We purchased three of the clinician devices (infant, toddler, preschool) and have been utilizing it in the clinic. We have three patients we’ve sent over to S, the orthotist, in the last week! Super excited for them!

— Alli H., PT, DPT

Just wanted to mention a few things about the TheraTogs…. first of all, let me say that I am so impressed with the TheraTogs, that I have gotten countless parents and therapists coming to my son’s therapy sessions to see how well they work (you will definitely be getting a lot of orders from the Syracuse, NY area!!!!). Even a representative from the New York State Developmental Services Office paid us a visit. Everyone agrees the suit is AWESOME!

Believe it or not, the suit not only provides enough support to make my son babble and coo, but it allows him to lift his upper body and head up off of his therapy ball, which he has never before done! Also, Jimmy has had very severe eczema since he was two months old, and I thought it may be useful for you to know that TheraTogs do not further compromise or irritate his skin in any way, even after hours of continued use!

He also sits unassisted for seconds, which again, never happened before the TheraTogs came into our lives! Thanks for providing such a great product that meets the needs of developmentally disabled children at a great price!

I also tried TheraTogs with a 4 year-old with signs of a genetic neurological disorder (testing pending), with a spastic ataxic gait pattern, and without the ability to stand still for a task. Once the TheraTogs were applied, she was not only able to stand still, but was able to stoop and recover repeatedly, and to walk over a variety of surfaces… in addition, she completed a single activity of stacking blocks and kicking them over for 20 minutes (she usually gives 2 minutes per task).

Dad was so amazed he wanted to order them for both kids today; it almost looked as if he got a little choked up.

I just wanted to give major kudos to Marie. There was an issue with an order today and she stayed right on top of it until it was resolved. She handled the situation with the highest quality of customer care and it was a pleasure to work with her.

It certainly is a reasonably priced option for families… and families who see it work during therapy time can easily buy into using it, especially in the winter as an undergarment. These are washable as well and once set up can be easily used by the family… what a great way to get carryover.

W.S.  is doing GREAT!  The family compliance with the Wunzi is amazing – unless she has had a “blow-out”, the Wunzi is on and fitted well.  She is now combat crawling for mobility.  She is able to butt scoot well but since she cannot get up into sit yet ( actually working in our favor now) and the family keeps her on her stomach a lot she has been practicing crawling quite a bit.

Some days her arm is very relaxed and her overall postural control is so much better in her Wunzi.  I have been doing some scap mob and facial release followed by stretching to keep her right torso stretched out.  Spontaneous use of her right hand has also increased, and she seemingly thinks she is supposed to feed herself with her right hand since the family uses the restaining cast a lot for feeding.

We are now beginning to work on pulling to stand and creeping.  Yeah!  The family is very grateful, as am I.

About TheraTogs: I have been using them with my clients for several months now and couldn’t be happier. In my opinion this is the best invention since sliced bread. It lets you keep your hands on the child when you’re not there. You don’t really need to go to a training course. The TheraTogs come with a video. Watch it a few times and follow the instructions. You just apply the suit, fit and tailor it, then play with strapping until you get what you want.

I have a patient who has cerebral palsy, diplegia, autism and sensory defensiveness.  I requested the family start using the TheraTogs they received the previous year.  (They previously were not committed to donning the system.)  I asked that they wear them for three straight weeks before deciding the benefits vs. the challenges of donning it.

Within a week they had noted not only was their child more stable for standing and walking, but he was less irritable, increased eye contact, and tolerated handling more.  Great success.  Recently we had them do the Wilberger brushing program, with further improvement noted.  We have just recently ordered the next size up, and we are awaiting their arrival.

Thanks for the great product.

This baby is doing amazing with the Wunzi combined with peripheral stim, and yes, you may definitely quote me on your website. We need people to understand this.

I still get pushback from other clinicians who think giving support is ‘taking away opportunity for strengthening’ and that these kids will weaken with external support… eeeeeek! That alignment podcast needs to be broadcast from the rooftops!

Shaindy Silber, PT

We recently have purchased a pediatric set of TheraTogs for our clinic. I have been very impressed with the changes I am seeing my patients make when utilizing the TheraTogs. I have been using just the Hipster and small straps to increase hip abduction and stability. One 3 year old client with mild spastic diplegia went from taking only 5-7 steps independently to taking up to 23 steps with the TheraTogs in one session.

Another type of child that is benefitting from TheraTogs is the “hyperactive” child and/or child with attention deficit disorder.  With the use of TheraTogs, I can get the child to functionally focus on tasks and decrease the amount of distractabilty.  This is due to the TheraTogs system providing a type of pressure or comfort needed for a child with distractabilty to process or take in the environment.

The term we use is homeostasis.  It is somewhat easy for most of us to achieve so we can function and do many different things throughout the day.  But for others they require external help, i.e. TheraTogs, to achieve this so they can participate in higher learning and attend to functional daily skills.

I just started treating a baby who is 12 months old s/p liver transplant and other significant medical history, at assessment in prone he could not lift his head off the floor or prop without max facilitation. I trialed my Wunzi on him, placed him on the floor and immediately he had prone prop on forearms with head extension in midline looking at toys. It was incredible. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I don’t think I would have believed it… he was able to sustain for several seconds on multiple consecutive trials. So grateful for all that you have contributed!

S.S., PT

In my 22 years of experience working with children, I find that Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES), and Whole Body Vibration (WBV) work effectively in concert with TheraTogs to increase strength, ROM, and function in all muscles targeted. Using these modalities may ‘bridge the gap,’ while more studies are done on therapy frequency, so current patients do not fall through the cracks of the system.

My four year old daughter got TheraTogs two days ago. The change in her walking is AMAZING. She used to walk with her left foot/leg turned in 45 to 90 degrees. Braces were not stopping this rotation from the hip. But now both of her feet face forward! She looks great! She absolutely loves wearing her ‘super suit.’

William stood for at least two minutes – unassisted – today while he waited on me to go get his walker… He also just pushed himself up off the floor into a standing position without pulling up on anything or using anything for assistance! Today is a great day!

Another nice story I had was with an 8-year-old girl that I work with – she is studying in a regular school and her class had a show to give onstage; with the TheraTogs on she could stand on the stage with all her friends without her wheelchair for some parts of the show, and everybody was really amazed!

My wife has MS and is just beginning to show physical signs of fatigue, poor balance, and abnormal physical alignment. She is a courageous woman that is determined to stay strong and lead an active lifestyle. The TheraTogs are allowing her to achieve the proper anatomical alignment so that she can continue to strengthen specific muscle groups that have been weakened and dominated.

PS: For the first time in several years… we danced the night away (even the twist). No firm handholds on the ceramic floor from her over-protective husband… and not even one run to the bathroom.

Hi, my name is Melissa, and I have a daughter with Choreoathatoid CP. She also has ataxia and hypotonia. She is 5yrs old and attends a school for the hearing impaired where she receives her therapy 2X per week. We just had a meeting with her PT and OT. They showed us a video of our daughter wearing your TheraTogs. We could not believe our eyes. What an incredible product you have…

Just wanted to mention a few things about the TheraTogs…. first of all, let me say that I am so impressed with the TheraTogs, that I have gotten countless parents and therapists coming to my son’s therapy sessions to see how well they work (you will definitely be getting a lot of orders from the Syracuse, NY area!!!!).  Even a representative from the New York State Developmental Services Office paid us a visit. Everyone agrees the suit is AWESOME!

Thanks for providing such a great product that meets the needs of developmentally disabled children at a great price!

A lot of people ask me about TheraTogs. Of course, I always have GREAT things to say about them. They are really a fantastic invention and hopefully will be a standard for all motor impaired kids. I highly recommend these garments and commend Billi for all the energy that has gone into making them available to all children and therapists!

As a physical therapist, I have seen TheraTogs empower children to do many things that had seemed near impossible before. I have seen a girl who had never jumped with feet off the ground jump over a line with both feet together the very first day she wore the TheraTogs. I have seen a girl who had never spoken a word, look at her mom, say “mama”, and look down at the TheraTogs suit, pleased. I have seen a little girl’s doctor push back her orthopedic surgery years due to progress she made with TheraTogs help. Now, I know that TheraTogs are not magic and they don’t work the same for everyone. But, I have seen all of these things in my practice, and I can’t wait to see the stories that the future leaves untold…As a physical therapist, TheraTogs make anatomical and biomechanical sense.

I encouraged my facility to order two different sizes of the TheraTogs kits (the infant and preschool sizes). We received them at the end of last week and tried them on three different children today. We were very happy with the results that we saw in our first attempts at fitting. The versatility is good, and we immediately saw improved trunk posture, upper extremity functional posture and use, and lower extremity use, in children of different ages with different needs.

I have been using Thera Togs on a number of my patients for close to ten years. In addition to their individual gains and improved outcomes, I’m also seeing a clear trend towards earlier discharge from  on-going therapy. Outcomes are now achieved in one third the amount of time  if Thera Togs are used properly. The families are thrilled, and what a cost savings that represents!

“Change their alignment, change their lives.”

This particular TheraTogs patient is only 17 months old with mild right hemiplegia. Not only did her alignment improve significantly during all phases of ambulation, we noted improvement in her fluency as well as in her balance. She was also able to independently walk up an incline and over a variety of surface changes without requiring upper extremity assist. Once the TheraTogs were removed, she could not complete some of the same tasks, and was less steady, with tripping and falls noted with surface changes. Not one fall with the TheraTogs on.

J.N., a 4-year-old child with ataxic cerebral palsy, wears her TheraTogs TankTop and Hipster at preschool, and has already shown significant gains in her stair-climbing ability. Her teachers also report that with them on, she is able to feed herself her whole lunch with a fork – rather than resorting to using her hands in frustration. The TheraTogs provide her with ongoing trunk stability, which translates into improved upper extremity control and function. We couldn’t ask for more!

I tried TheraTogs on another kid today, one with MAJOR (what I thought) sensory issues. Lots of poor control of postural muscles too… walks stiffly… can’t maintain half-kneel without max assist… and falls about 3 times an hour. I worked with the little guy for 2 hours today, one of which was in the TheraTogs.

Amazing. Simply amazing. [He now shows] low-guard ambulation with trunk rotation and arm swing, walked up and down curbs without any stumble, and stooped and recovered 30 times without falling over. Got him inside and during circle time, he half-kneeled for me for 10 minutes on each knee along with the other kids — only this time with contact-guard to minimum assist. I’m going to submit to have Medicaid buy him a pair for take-home use.

I’m a kinesiologist at Niagara Children’s Centre, and I had to drop you a line. I did a (low tech) videotape analysis on a little guy with and without TheraTogs. He is a fairly involved bright child, uses a Kaye walker, has pelvic instability and rotational difficulties, contributing to significantly obstructed swing phase with toe drag, and toe strike with knee flexion at initial contact. With TheraTogs, he immediately demonstrated the following:

• Improved knee extension at initial contact
• Appropriate foot progression angle in stance
• Improved pelvic stability so no pelvic drop at toe off

…Which combined with significantly less internal rotation, allowed foot clearance during swing phase. There was a mild improvement in pre-swing knee flexion, which I believe may be related to the improved transverse plane alignment of the trailing limb allowing for better forefoot stability for unlocking the knee prior to push-off.