Learn more about the lower-limb orthoses offered by Boston Orthotics & Prosthetics, including profiles of the clinicians that fabricate and fit our lower limb orthoses, the conditions that can benefit from treatment with lower limb orthoses, and patients that are achieving their dreams through the use of orthotic devices.
Fifteen-year-old Eli is by most accounts a typical teenage boy. He is active on his high-school wrestling team, a Boy Scout, and also enjoys snow skiing and water skiing. However, Eli is far from typical.
Although tiny for her age, two-year-old Aggie is “fierce and full of life,” says her mom — much like Agnes Gru, the character in the movie, Despicable Me, who inspired her name.
Kate is by all accounts ahead of the learning curve. “She's an extremely smart little kid,” says her Dad, Patrick Brown. “She's known all the letters of the alphabet since she was two and a half.”
Like many couples, Kerry Adams and her husband, Derek, eagerly began preparing for the arrival of their first child. What they didn’t prepare for was the unexpected news that their son had myelomeningocele, one of the most severe forms of spina bifida, in which the spinal cord fails to close during development.
In photographs, Michelle Hak is standing tall. She has no movement in her ankles or any of her toes, but nevertheless, she’s mobile. For the first two years of her life, however, that was not the case.
Shawn Koehler is a certified orthotist who specializes in lower limb orthortics at the Boston O&P clinics in Annapolis and Lanham, Maryland. In this Q&A, Shawn shares how he was introduced to the field of orthotics, how Boston O&P’s lower limb orthotics differ from those offered by other companies, and his goals for his career.
To say the words “cerebral palsy” in regards to my child was very difficult. For a long time, since my son Carter's diagnosis in 2016, I was not prepared to tell people my son had CP. Maybe it's because I was afraid of people judging him or not giving him enough of a chance. I wanted so badly to make sure he had the opportunity to fight all of his obstacles.
The American Board for Certification (ABC) defines a certified orthotist as an allied-healthcare professional that is specifically educated and trained to provide comprehensive orthotic patient care. This includes the patient evaluation, formulation and documentation of the treatment plan, and designing and fabricating the most appropriate orthosis to obtain the treatment plan goals. The orthotist is also responsible for the fitting, modification, maintenance and repair of the orthoses.