Pre-Conference Sessions

PC1: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Training
Full Day and a Half Session
10:00am - 7:00pm (EDT) on October 6 and 8:00am - 12:00pm (EDT) on October 7
$475.00 (MEMBER)
$550.00 (NON-MEMBER)

The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach is an increasingly used approach to allow grading the quality (or certainty) of the evidence of systematic reviews and to better inform the strength of clinical recommendations. Many international organizations have provided input into the development of the GRADE approach, and it is now considered the standard in guideline development.

This 1.5-day workshop is open to those interested in learning how to apply the GRADE approach for the assessment of evidence and development of recommendations. It will facilitate the basic principles of guideline methodology, including how to critically appraise the evidence, grade the quality of the evidence, and how to move from evidence to recommendations by using GRADE. Sessions will include both plenary sessions by US GRADE Network experts and hands on exercises. The workshop will include the following topics:

• Creating trustworthy clinical practice guidelines
• Formulation of effective PICOs
• Selecting and rating patient-important outcomes
• Risk of Bias Assessment
• Quality of Evidence: rating down and rating up
• Creating effective evidence profiles
• From Evidence to Recommendations
• Introduction to GRADE software

PC2: How to Establish a Research Program Focused on Cerebral Palsy
Full Day (Presented live 10:00am-7:00pm EDT) Pre-Conference Session Held Live 10:00am - 7:00pm (EDT)
$150 (MEMBER)
$200 (NON-MEMBER)

The purpose of this course is to outline a path toward establishing and maintaining a successful research program focused on cerebral palsy (CP). The course will involve three parts and an optional pre-work component. The first part of the course will outline steps toward establishing a research program with a specific focus on CP, and review potential funding sources to support this program.  The second part will review how to prepare a competitive research grant proposal.  The course will include breakout sessions in which meetings with mentors and funding agency representatives will be arranged. The third part will be a post-conference follow up between mentors and mentees and a progress summary sent to the course organizers. The optional pre-work will involve the attendees submitting a specific aims page and biosketch one month prior to the pre-conference. The organizers will review your materials and assign the attendee a research mentee.

PC3: Cerebral Palsy Lower Extremity Surgical Indications: Expert Consensus Informed by the Delphi Process
Morning Session (Presented live 10:00am–2:00 pm EDT)
$75 (MEMBER)
$100 (NON-MEMBER)

The practice variation that exists regarding the indications for the most common hip, knee, ankle, and foot orthopedic surgeries that are prescribed to address bone and joint deformity and musculotendinous contractures to treat gait dysfunction will be addressed by this symposium. It will be presented by a multinational expert panel of pediatric orthopedic surgeons who specialize in CP management will present their findings derived from meetings over the past three years guided by the Delphi process. The Delphi process that we followed will be reviewed. We will then discuss the indications where consensus was either reached or not for the common boney procedures including femoral and tibial derotation osteotomies, distal femoral extension osteotomy, anterior distal femoral hemiepiphyseodesis, and foot reconstructive procedures. Common soft tissue balancing procedures including hamstring lengthening, rectus femoris transfer, gastrosoleus lengthening, and patellar advancement will also be presented. Ample time will be available for verbal and electronic audience participation associated with each procedure. 

PC4: Practical Approaches to Complex Care: Care of Medically Complex Non-Verbal Children with Suspected Pain Behaviors
Morning Session (Presented live 10:00am–2:00 pm EDT)
$75 (MEMBER)
$100 (NON-MEMBER)

This 4-hour virtual seminar will focus on a multidisciplinary approach to assessing, diagnosing, and caring for medically complex children with pain behaviors and their families. The course will allow exploration and understanding of the GRASP tool to diagnose underlying pain generators, use of behavioral and pharmacologic interventions and current research, family-focused support tools, and an interactive discussion with a panel of providers and families. Attendees will take away concrete tools for diagnosing and providing family support, up-to-date recommendations for treatment and management, and enjoy multiple viewpoints and family perspectives.

PC5: Enhancing Mental Health and Well-being in Adolescents and Adults with Cerebral Palsy
Afternoon Session (Presented live 3:00-7:00pm EDT)
$75 (MEMBER)
$100 (NON-MEMBER)

Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) have a significantly higher incidence of, and risk for, common psychological morbidities as compared to adults without CP. Effective methods for screening, detection and interventions for optimizing mental health and wellbeing in people with CP are emerging. Health professionals should consider strategies to enhance overall mental and physical wellbeing in adults with CP within a participation framework across the lifespan.

The focus of this pre-conference workshop on mental health and well being is on knowledge translation, combining presentations of up to date research findings, the lived experiences of adults with CP (and their families), and the clinical experience of expert professionals in this field. Participants will be actively involved, contributing via small discussion groups, to translate this information into treatment options (including barriers and facilitators) to enhance the mental health and well being of adolescents and adults with CP in their clinical practice, with the aim to improve mental health outcomes for this population.

After a short introduction, the program will be delivered in 3 modules targeting the latest research regarding mental health disorder prevalence, assessment tools that may be utilized, and evidence-based interventions. Each module will include a range of different perspectives (e.g. researcher, adults with CP and their families, clinician) and from different disciplines, to enable participants to gain a thorough understanding and learn from each other.

PC6: Development and Analysis of Upright Stability
Afternoon Session (Presented live 3:00-7:00pm EDT)
$75 (MEMBER)
$100 (NON-MEMBER)

Standing balance is composed of a set of subsystems that work together to maintain upright stability. One’s ability to maintain standing balance is an essential component of functional mobility, achieving independence with activities of daily living, and overall typical development.  The evaluation and assessment of balance dysfunction in patients experiencing upright instability is an important step in proposing and determining effective treatment strategies. The ability to accurately quantify standing balance deficits and measure the degree of upright stability improvement observed with varying treatment interventions is a crucial step to providing evidence-based treatment interventions that improve standing balance.

PC7: Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination for Telehealth: A Developmental Surveillance Tool
Afternoon Session (Presented live 3:00-7:00pm EDT)
$75 (MEMBER)
$100 (NON-MEMBER)

During this course, HINE practitioners will have an opportunity to learn about the challenges of converting a standardized neurological examination to a telehealth format. The need for telehealth assessment of high-risk infants using standardized neurological assessments during COVID and beyond will be introduced. Various aspects of set-up, such as technology and parent participation will be addressed. In addition, difficulties in reliable scoring with examples will be discussed.

The course will use a combination of didactics, video, and live demonstration and open discussion to address concerns and point out possible solutions to current challenges.

PC8: Ultrasound for Chemodenervation Procedures
$200 (MEMBER)
$250 (NON-MEMBER)

The in-person US Hands-on Pre-Conference Session has been reformatted for a virtual format and will include didactic lectures and a review of pre-recorded videos US guidance for limb muscle identification and a pediatric case presentation with ultrasound guided botulinum toxin injections.

Didactic lectures will include reviews of functional anatomy, ultrasound imaging basics and ultrasound/electrical stimulation guided neurolytic procedures.

The video-based ultrasound anatomy section of the course will provide a review of ultrasound identification of upper and lower limb muscles and nerves which are frequently targeted during chemodenervation procedures. The faculty will discuss key factors to successfully incorporating US guidance into a chemodenervation practice.

The final section of the course will include a pediatric dystonia case presentation with a faculty discussion followed by ultrasound guided botulinum toxin injections in the left upper and right lower limbs demonstrating how US is utilized during chemodenervation procedures.