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This course is the first part of the Pediatric VitalStim Therapy: Enhancing Decision Making series. Both the first and second part are included in your purchase and will appear as individual courses on your Online Course Menu. Participants will be able to activate each part separately at your discretion. Separate CEU certificates will be available to print upon successful completion of each part.
See Prerequisite below
Learn the key components of an effective pediatric VitalStim treatment. This course is designed to take the VitalStim provider to the next level in their evaluation, clinical analysis, treatment planning, and intervention skills. The course will focus on building upon the theoretical basis of muscle physiology, kinesiology, swallowing mechanism changes across infancy through adulthood, concepts of electrical stimulation, electrode placement, dynamic systems theory, and more. Through the use of labs, videos, case studies, and discussion, the participant will challenge and build their problem solving and analytical skills to efficiently and effectively identify and treat the pediatric VitalStim caseload. This course will bring about new therapy ideas and increase self confidence to provide optimal patient care and success!
Completion of this course includes a 10 question quiz and 3 short answer questions which will be submitted to the instructor for grading. Submission of an online evaluation form with an intent to change statement is required for successful completion.
NOTE: Registrants must be VitalStim Providers.
Prerequisite:
1. VitalStim Providers who completed the Adult Focus class must first take a foundation of pediatric anatomy/physiology of the swallowing system course Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Skill Acquisition Around Developmental Milestones prior to taking this course.
2. VitalStim Providers who completed the Pediatric Focus class may proceed with this advanced class.
This course is included as part of a Pediatric Bundle
Karin has been a practicing Speech Pathologist who has been working at CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange, CA for over 30 years. She is a clinical specialist at CHOC who provides direct inpatient care coverage, including in their Level 4 NICU. Karin is extremely focused on quality improvement initiatives, writing policies and procedures as well as care guidelines and is involved in councils and committees. Karin serves as a clinical specialist and is committed to empowering others through mentoring and education. She is active in development of guidelines, policies and procedures as well as ongoing analysis of programs, always looking to enhance the care provided. She is passionate about feeding and swallowing, breast feeding, developmental care and partnering with families. Her love of teaching and helping others drives her to create and deliver fun and empowering continuing education courses. She is passionate about empowering family members in the care of their babies and children to optimize outcomes and generalize skills. She is equally passionate about educating and training others in their professional growth and development. She finds joy in helping others succeed.
Financial Disclosure: Karin Mitchell receive honoraria from CIAO Seminars for presenting this course.
Non-financial Disclosure: Karin Mitchell uses NMES during swallowing therapy as appropriate.
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
0.45 ASHA CEUs
Advanced level
CIAO is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). CIAO complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As a result of this accreditation, CIAO is accredited to issue the IACET CEU.
CIAO is recognized on the NBCOT Provider Registry (meets PDU requirements for NBCOT)
The course was great & I appreciated the case studies for more "hands-on" learning! :)
- Albertson, NY / Mar 2026
I loved having Karin comment on my thoughts for the Case Study. I will use these very much to refine my thinking!
- Braselton, GA / Mar 2025
Excellent course! I learned so much more than I did in my certification course.
- Fenton, MO / Dec 2024
It was a nice addition to go along with the original certification I completed years ago.
- Paragould, AR / Nov 2024
I was able to contact someone from Ciao for help troubleshooting and getting my cases graded. Excellent review and content. Thanks!
- Colorado Springs, CO / Jul 2024
Karin and Kathy were the instructors who taught the Vital Stim certification when I first became certified in 2012. I have had Karin since for recertification. Hands down the most amazing instructors and I really appreciated this enhanced decision making course...great review of a few concepts and excellent ideas to add to my OT tool box! Thank you!
- Grosse Pointe, MI / Apr 2024
Good evening Karin...thank you so much for your feedback...I understand. I just love the way you and Kathy teach and share ur VitalStim expertise! I have loved attending your courses, as well as, observing and learning via online. I know her spirit will forever shine bright within you. Thank you, Erica Olmstead :D
- Troy, MI / Apr 2024
Loved the course!
- Flowery Branch, GA / Feb 2024
I really liked the breakdown and more specifics for placements and review. Applications in treatment sessions as well.
- Albuquerque, NM / Aug 2023
Amazing course!
- Mandeville, LA / May 2023
Thank you so much for this instruction! Great teachers
- Frisco, TX / Oct 2022
Great course and great instructors.
- Cypress, TX / Aug 2022
Loved the course!!! So much information and review!
- Owensboro, KY / May 2022
This course was a great review! Karin and Kathy presented as very knowledgeable and also excellent at explaining the information for those who needed a refresher! I loved all the visual models of the muscles!
- Iuka, MS / Mar 2022
Loved the case studies! very helpful
- Dallas, TX / Mar 2022
Great course! Really made you think out of the box.
- Clinton , MS / Feb 2022
Thank you for the course handouts to follow along with the presentation. They were helpful.
- Pottsville, PA / Feb 2022
Excellent course- highly recommend!
- Austin, TX / Aug 2021
This was a great course! I took the adult focused class and this helped me to feel more confident with peds. I feel "capable" right now and believe this course will support me as I gain more experience with pediatric NMES to move into the "highly capable" category. thank you!!
- Austin , TX / Jul 2021
I cannot say enough good things about this course. It was a wonderful supplement for the adult VitalStim certification and was super helpful for the population that I serve. THANK YOU!!!!
- Owens Cross Roads, AL / Jun 2021
This refresher has been great to hone my skills with the infant and toddler population. Great content!
- Palmer, AK / Apr 2021
Thank you so much for the feedback on the case studies! I will definitely keep the anatomy and physiology changes in mind during my treatments. Loved being able to apply the information you gave us in this section. Thank you, again!
- Newburgh, IN / Feb 2021
This was a great course. I did get a little nervous about getting everything in by the 30 days to have it checked and corrected (assuming corrections needed to be completed within the 30 days as well). I allowed myself 7 days for grading but that did give a little anxiety about when I could sit for the videos to give full attention.
- Austin, TX / Feb 2021
A great review and affirmation I am providing care the way NMES is intended.
- Hayden, ID / Jan 2020
Great review- thank you!
- Greenville, SC / Jan 2020
This was a great course and appreciate that we did the case study to make sure we could plan and sequence treatment based on what we know. The feedback was prompt and positive- thank you!
- Greenville, SC / Aug 2019
I appreciate that I can learn more via webinars! Instructors were excellent - they know their stuff and communicate it well. Thank you!
- Fergus Falls, MN / Jul 2019
I think having the feedback on the case study answers was nice, when you've been doing this awhile its nice to have this refresher and get confirmation that clinical reasoning skills are still appropriate
- Carrollton, TX / Jul 2019
I learned so much with this course! The instructors are very knowledgeable and explained the content in a very easy to understand way. I was told in the Adult course that treatment was very similar in pediatrics because the structures are all the same just smaller, but I disagree now that I learned how structures change with growth from newborns-toddlers-older child-adult. Looking forward to completing Part 2!
- BONITA SPRINGS, FL / Jul 2019
This course was very helpful. I took the adult class and I'm thankful for this additional information regarding my pediatric patients.
- Hudson, WI / Jul 2019
I received my certification through the adult VitalStem program. This online ped course was so helpful. I’m glad I signed up for it. I’ve only completed part one at this point.
- Oklahoma City, OK / Jun 2019
I really enjoyed the case studies and being able to have direct feedback to gain insight into my understanding of treating the pediatric patient as a whole from the evaluation process all the way to discharge. This course has been extremely insightful and I feel that the presentation, case studies, and presenter's feedback will help enable me to use my skill sets more effectively and most of all more confidently. Thank you!!!
- Hampstead, NC / Jun 2019
I really enjoyed this course and I'm so excited you both came out with a pediatric course re: NMES. You guys ROCK! Thanks!!
- Houston , TX / Jun 2019
Thank you for your additional input regarding the case study questions! This was a helpful course for me.
- Talihina, OK / May 2019
Great course. Very thorough!
- Athens, PA / May 2019
Great course to transition from adult VitalStim cert to being able to work with peds!
- Claremore, OK / Feb 2019
Thank you!! I think some more time spent on palpation for accurate placement would have been helpful. Otherwise great and very helful and interesting course!!
- Lakewood, NJ / Jan 2019
Great visuals with pictures. Incorporate videos of NMES . Thanks!
- Coral Springs, FL / Dec 2018
really helpful for helping me to analyze and prioritize impairments for treatment planning.
- Duluth, MN / Apr 2018
Love the back and forth communication with this class! Thanks Karin for the great feedback.
- Kihei, HI / Mar 2018
Great course and very knowledgeable instructor!
- Eagan, MN / Feb 2018
I really enjoyed this course. The feed back from the instructor was wonderful and very helpful! I cannot wait to start part 2.
- Quincy, IL / Jan 2018
The instructors did a great job of giving examples with treatment strategies and techniques. I could tell they really know their stuff! Also provided great feedback on case studies. Would definitely take another course presented by them.
- Birmingham, AL / Feb 2017
The videos with the text information available is just fabulous. Thank you!
- Albany, LA / Nov 2016
Great review. Each time a take a Vitalstim course i learn more that I can apply.
- Olathe, KS / Oct 2016
I really enjoyed this course. As a therapist transitioning from adult vital stim to pediatric vital stim, I found that this course was very informative.
- McKinney, TX / Sep 2016
