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Move it or Lose It: Supporting Infant Movement Development in the NICU: Modifying Manual Therapy Interventions for the Medically Complex Infant

Intended Audience:

SLP

Course Level:

Intermediate

Course Type: Virtual course icon Live Webinar

Apr 27 – May 6, 2026

Check-In Time: 4/27/2026 4:30:00 PM

Course Time(s): Monday April 27, 2026-4:45-8:00PM (CST) Wednesday April 28, 2026-4:45-8:00PM (CST) Monday May 4, 2026-4:45-8:00PM (CST) Wednesday May 6, 2026-4:45-8:00PM(CST)

Course Location:

Live Webinar via Zoom

Contact Hours: 12.0

Course Completion:
Course intended to be completed in full.

Discipline Specific CEU Approvals:

OT: You will receive a certificate of completion with total CE contact hours. This course is not submitted for AOTA approval, but you may submit the certificate and course details to your licensing board. Please review your organization’s CE requirements for eligibility (OR could replace the last sentence with: For CE requirements and qualifying OT activities, see MN Statute 148.
PT: This course will be submitted to the MN Board of PT for credit approval; however, approval or the full number of credits is not guaranteed. Participants will receive a certificate of completion, which may be used toward professional licensure.
SLP Satisfactory Completion & ASHA CE Registry Submission: To receive a certificate of completion, participants must attend the entire course and complete the evaluation—including the intent to change statement—within 30 days. If not attended in full, the certificate will reflect adjusted hours. Participants who do not meet these requirements are not eligible for ASHA CE Registry submission.

Instructor: Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS

Instructor Bio:
Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS is an Occupational Therapist who has worked in pediatrics for the past 27 years with the past 16 years in a level IV NICU. She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, Certified Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist, Certified Brain Injury therapist, an active member of National Association of Neonatal Therapists, and has completed 6-month mentorship in infant/child NDT. She has worked within the NICU and NICU follow-up clinic to maximize patient and family outcomes for the most complex premature and medically fragile term infants. Holly received her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational therapy from the University of North Dakota in 1997. She has dedicated her career to clinical care and advancing developmental care practice patterns for all multidisciplinary team members. She has presented at many regional and national conferences including National Association of Neonatal Therapists, American Physical Therapy Combined Sections Meeting, Audrey Harris Vision NICU conference, and the University of Minnesota NICU conference. She provides Developmental Care, Feeding Intervention, and NICU education throughout the country. She is a faculty member for Neonatal Touch and Massage; an endorsed faculty member/instructor for Manual Edema Mobilization; and a faculty member for Education Resources Inc. She is the recipient of the NANT Clinical Excellence award in 2018.

Financial Disclosure:
Financial Disclosures: Holly Schifsky receives a fee for speaking and instructing on this topic.

Non‑financial Disclosure:
Non-Financial Disclosures: Holly Schifsky has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

Move it or Lose It: Supporting Infant Movement Development in the NICU: Modifying Manual Therapy Interventions for the Medically Complex Infant image

Course Description:

Medically complex and extremely premature infants have a greater survivability rate with advances in maternal/fetal medicine and NICU medical technology. Effective developmental interventions require the neonatal therapist to understand embryological, maturation, and developmental impacts of these medical conditions with adaptations to manual therapy techniques to improve alignment and movement for the infants. This course will build on information from Baby Beats and Breaths but could be a stand-alone course for the seasoned clinician. Evidence based literature will be provided on development of movement, manual therapy techniques to promote ribcage/abdominal, upper airway, and segmental trunk control as infant transition away from positioning devices and require activation of postural control muscles. Information will be shared on neonatal therapy interventions for the medically complex infant requiring ECMO, CRRT, PD, and early mobilization techniques.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, the participant should be able to:

Identify the impact of prematurity on musculoskeletal development and maturation.
Correlate the maturation of infant reflexes, synergies, and/or planes of movement to motor skill development in premature infants.
Assess alignment of the infant spine during positioning and handling.
Demonstrate handling techniques to support optimal alignment for segmental spinal positioning
Adapt the environment and/or handling interventions to reduce stress cues during motor interventions.

Course Agenda:

Day 1: Lecture: Impact of prematurity on musculoskeletal development (1 hour)
•   Gestational development: key systems
o   Neurological
o   Musculoskeletal
o   orthopedic
Development of movement (1 hour)
•   Anti-gravity movement
•   Synergies
•   Reflexes
•   Planes of movement
•   Motor Learning in Infants
•   Physiological flexion progression towards extension with active flexion
BREAK: 15 minutes
Neonatal Therapy Interventions to support movement development: (30 minutes)
•   Positioning
o   Key Concepts
•   Handling
o   Layers of skin
o   Sensory/motor development
o   Impact of touch
o   Types of touch pressure
•   Infant regulation
o   Behavioral signs
o   Parasympathetic/sympathetic signs
Lab: Handling
•   Handling Small Babies: 22-28 weeks (30 minutes)
o   Weight shifting with controlled input
o   Intentional hand placement
Day 2:
•   Handling Maturing Babies: 29-33 weeks (30 minutes)
o   Reduce gravitational impact, but allowance for free movement

Lecture: Types of manual therapy (30 minutes)
•   Direction of movement
•   Rate/speed of movement
•   Infant responses
Lab: Motor Facilitation for Near-Term Babies: 33-40 weeks
•   Core Control (30 minutes)
o   Upper Airway: Common Compensatory Patterns
   Anatomy review, including gestation
   Soft tissue release
•   Submandibular facilitation
•   Pharyngeal lift
•   Facial mobilization
•   Anterior/lateral neck release
   Alignment with early mobilization
   Joint mobilization: TMJ
   Active movement facilitation
•   BREAK: 15 minutes
o   Oral region: Common Compensatory Patterns (30 minutes)
   Anatomy review, including gestation
   Soft tissue release
•   Intraoral cheek elongation
   Alignment with early mobilization
   Joint mobilization
   Active movement facilitation

o   Spine: segmental alignment and control (60 minutes)
   Cervical spine: Common compensatory patterns
•   Anatomy review, including gestation
•   Soft tissue release
o   C1-C2 release
•   Alignment with early mobilization
•   Joint mobilization
•   Active movement facilitation
   Thoracic spine: Common compensatory patterns
•   Anatomy review, including gestation
•   Soft tissue release
•   Alignment with early mobilization
•   Joint mobilization
•   Active movement facilitation
   Lumbar spine: common compensatory patterns
•   Anatomy review, including gestation
•   Soft tissue release
•   Alignment with early mobilization
•   Joint mobilization
•   Active movement facilitation
Day 3:
Literature Review: (45 minutes)
Lecture: Abdominal/thoracic synchrony of movement and maturation (45 minutes)
Break: 15 minutes
Lab: Abdominal/Pelvic Region: Common compensatory patterns (90 minutes)
   Anatomy review, including gestation
   Soft tissue release
•   Pelvic Floor Release: lower abdominal elongation
•   Sacral region mobilization for fluid/gas release
•   Upper rectus abdominus release
•   Transverse thoracis release
•   Abdominal sweep
   Alignment with early mobilization
   Joint mobilization
   Active movement facilitation

Day 4:
Thoracic region: Common compensatory patterns (90 minutes)
   Anatomy review, including gestation
   Soft tissue release:
•   Pectoralis release then facilitation
•   Lateral neck and trunk elongation
•   Scapular mobilization with subscapularis release
•   Glenohumeral release
•   Upper, mid, lower rib release lateral cage
•   Posterior rib mobilization
   Alignment with early mobilization
   Joint mobilization
   Active movement facilitation
Break: 15 minutes
Lecture: Adjunct interventions (30 minutes)
•   Splinting
•   Elastic Taping
•   Double Diapering
Lecture: Early Mobilization for medically complex infants (60 minutes)
•   Goals for early mobilization: skin protection
•   Sensory consideration for environment
•   ECMO
•   CRRT

Course Fee: $325.00

Registration deadline: April 26

Contact Information

M Health Fairview Rehab Services Continuing Education Department

Email: rehabce@fairview.org
Phone: 612-672-5607