

- Home
- Services & Support
- Departments & Services
- Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy
Blythedale’s Physical Therapy Department provides therapeutic evaluations, screening and services to help restore function, improve ability, relieve pain and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of children recovering from injuries or a wide range of illnesses.
Treatment plans often include exercise for patients who have been immobilized and lack flexibility, strength, or endurance. In addition, pediatric physical therapists promote development of normal components of movement and gross motor skills.
Augmentative therapies provided by Blythedale’s Physical Therapy department include treatment and consultation in orthopedics, neuromuscular disorders, developmental delay and sports medicine, aquatic therapy, lower extremity orthotic fabrication, and durable medical equipment recommendations.
Therapeutic interventions utilized within physical therapy include the Balance Master, Functional Electrical Stimulation such as the Motomed and the Walk Aide, and the Lite Gait. These interventions support each child’s customized treatment plan to allow each child to realize his or her potential, restore function and move forward. Empowering families with knowledge and skills through ongoing education also enhances the rehabilitation process.
The Physical Therapy department is actively engaged in research with the use of the Walk Aide and nonprogressive neurological clients.
To make a referral for outpatient therapy services, please click here to download our referral form.
Contact Information:
- Linda Fieback, P.T., M.A., P.C.S., Director of Physical Therapy
- lindaf@blythedale.org
- 914-592-7555 ext. 71727
Physical Therapy Staff
Treatments We Support
Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injury
Blythedale Children’s Hospital is a longtime leader in the treatment of children recovering from brain injury including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), post-infectious diseases such as meningitis or Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (ANMDAR), brain tumors and stroke. The extraordinary...
Learn moreAssistive Technology
Assistive Technology expands opportunities for children with special needs to increase participation in school settings, build social interactions, and access their environments in a variety of specialized ways. Blythedale’s dedicated team includes Assistive Technology experts from speech...
Learn moreCancer Rehabilitation
A customized therapeutic regimen enables patients to regain their strength and function while undergoing or recovering from surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. We recognize the vital importance of an ongoing relationship with the child’s referring oncology team, and we participate...
Learn moreCardiac Rehabilitation
As more infants and children are undergoing complex cardiac surgical procedures to repair congenital conditions such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, tetralogy of fallot, transposition of the great vessels, coarctation of the aorta, or cardiac injury due to myocarditis or traumatic injury,...
Learn moreComplex Chronic Conditions
Many children come to Blythedale with multiple, complex chronic conditions that impact their function. These chronic conditions - including cerebral palsy, CHARGE syndrome, congenital and chromosomal abnormalities, severe epilipsy - can complicate recovery after surgeries, acute illnesses or...
Learn moreComplex Post-Surgical Rehabilitation
Patients are admitted for acute medical and rehabilitative inpatient care following major trauma (such as head and spinal injuries, extensive soft tissue trauma/burns, vascular injuries, major muscle/ligament injuries, amputations or fractures), extensive scoliosis surgery, selective dorsal...
Learn moreComplex Wound and Burn Management
The child’s clinical team works collaboratively with parents and other caregivers to identify developmentally appropriate medical and therapeutic goals. This team is also committed to meeting the psychological and social challenges that accompany burn and wound treatment and recovery,...
Learn moreNeuromuscular Disorders
The goal of our Neuromuscular Disorders program is to help children maximize their functional abilities through comprehensive medical care and rehabilitation, utilizing state-of-the-art technology, environmental modifications and adaptive equipment. Following an intake evaluation, the child’s...
Learn morePost Acute Neonatal Care
Whether requiring ongoing medical management and rehabilitation due to extreme prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital cardiac disease, pulmonary hypertension , hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, short gut syndrome, feeding disorders or other complications occurring in the neonatal period...
Learn morePre/Post Organ & Stem Cell Transplant
These children require the highest level attention of a multidisciplinary team of pediatricians, pediatric physiatrists, nurses, nutritionists, pharmacists and physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapists familiar with the problems inherent in recovery from and living with a transplant. We...
Learn morePulmonary Hypertension
Blythedale’s expertise in caring for the most medically fragile of children is evident in our Pulmonary Hypertension rehabilitation program. Children come to Blythedale directly from the Intensive Care Unit while receiving intravenous, inhaled, subcutaneous or oral medications for pulmonary...
Learn morePulmonary Rehabilitation
The goal of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program is weaning from technology completely or to the least invasive support to facilitate the family's transition to home. Parents are involved in the care of their child every step of the way, and learn proper use of equipment, care of tracheostomy,...
Learn moreSpecialized Feeding
Children referred to Blythedale for Therapeutic Feeding have wide-ranging conditions including prematurity, short-gut syndrome, brain injury, oral-motor dysfunction, aversion behaviors, cognitive deficits or post-surgical complications. Services for these children include evaluations for both...
Learn moreThe New Milton Spahn Therapy Village Virtual Tour
Join us for a virtual tour of the new Milton Spahn Therapy Village at Blythedale Children's Hospital. The village offers a wide range of treatmeant options for children of all ages including a new sensory room that features a rock wall, a new Activities of Daily Living room, and a safe gait body support system.

Tenacious Tasnim
Thirteen-year-old Tasnim moved to the United States from Bangladesh in 2015, and settled with her family in Brooklyn. She quickly acclimated to her new school - excelling in academics, playing on the volleyball team, and making many friends. When she began exhibiting flu-like symptoms, she visited the family physician. The last thing she recalls is speaking with the doctor before slipping into an unconscious state and waking up ten days later in a hospital bed, surrounded by machines.