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Pediatric physical therapist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted experts
Jan Kretzschmar,
Jan Kretzschmar
Pediatric physical therapist example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical pediatric physical therapist skills. We ranked the top skills for pediatric physical therapists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 25.2% of pediatric physical therapist resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a pediatric physical therapist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 pediatric physical therapist skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use patients:
  • Developed appropriate treatment plans and educated patients and family members on appropriate home exercise programs and lifestyle changes.
  • Evaluated and treated patients with developmental disabilities in ICF and residential institution with children and adults.

2. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use patient care:
  • Earned reputation for excellence in patient care.
  • Provided prn patient care for inpatient adult populations.

3. Rehabilitation

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use rehabilitation:
  • Provided mentorship to new pediatric physical therapists with emphasis specialty in pre- and post- operative rehabilitation techniques.
  • Facilitated open communication with members of interdisciplinary rehabilitation team.

4. Autism

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use autism:
  • Implemented Occupational Therapy evaluations and services to children with special needs including autism, development disabilities, and emotional disorders.
  • Evaluated and treated children with a variety of diagnosis including pervasive developmental disorder, autism, and sensory processing disorder.

5. Home Health

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use home health:
  • Treated patients as an occupational therapist in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, pulmonary rehabilitation, outpatient, and home health settings
  • Provide caregiver education on dementia care and home health aide training/supervision in order to maximize carry- over and patient recovery.

6. Physical Therapy

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use physical therapy:
  • Provide physical therapy interventions to children with severe disabilities and compromised health status, in an educational setting.
  • Provided home pediatric physical therapy evaluation and treatment services to children with developmental, neurological and genetic disorders.

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7. Early Intervention

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use early intervention:
  • Provided early intervention services to the infant and toddler population in a natural environment with thorough caretaker education.
  • Document daily and monthly progress, Early Intervention notes, and Annual Progress Reports.

8. Kids

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use kids:
  • Treated some kids in separate clinic setting.
  • Uploaded and stored a method for treating certain special kids by researching and combining some techniques.

9. Treatment Programs

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use treatment programs:
  • Prepare discharge plans and home treatment programs.
  • Evaluated and implemented physical therapy treatment programs for patients in an outpatient setting with a variety of orthopedic and neurological diagnoses.

10. ABA

ABA, an abbreviation for applied behavioral analysis, is a scientific behavior study.

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use aba:
  • Experienced regarding implementation of Sensory Integration and ABA methods of treatment.
  • Follow individualized ABA protocols and utilize augmented communication devices.

11. Occupational Therapy

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use occupational therapy:
  • Supervised Occupational Therapy students from accredited university occupational therapy programs.
  • Conduct private occupational therapy evaluations/treatments/home programs/maintain computer based paperwork system

12. Acute Care

The branch of secondary healthcare which is responsible for giving short-term care to patients recovering from severe injuries or urgent medical problems is known as acute care. Acute care comprises multiple domains like; emergency care, urgent care, short-term stabilization, pre-hospital care, critical care, and trauma care.

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use acute care:
  • Provided occupational therapy evaluations and treatments on a Medical Acute Care unit for medically acute patients, including patients on ventilators.
  • Mentor therapy team on current acute care level rehabilitation processes and provide education materials to reinforce nationally utilized policies and procedures.

13. Adaptive

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use adaptive:
  • Complete comprehensive Occupational Therapy and home evaluation including identification of safety issues and recommendation of any required adaptive equipment and supplies.
  • Provide physical therapy services to a vast patient base, including individuals with physical impairments requiring use of specialized adaptive equipment.

14. Discharge Planning

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use discharge planning:
  • Evaluated, screened, developed plan of cares, and discharge planning for school age children.
  • Incorporated patient/family education into explanation of PT diagnosis/prognosis, PT goals/expected outcomes, intervention selection, HEP, and discharge planning.

15. Physical Therapy Treatment

Here's how pediatric physical therapists use physical therapy treatment:
  • Perform specialized patient care evaluations, identify complex patient problems and integrate physical therapy treatment with other health care professionals.
  • Integrated physical therapy treatment protocols with other necessary treatment paradigms (occupational and speech) into a unified treatment protocol.
top-skills

What skills help Pediatric Physical Therapists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on pediatric physical therapist resumes?

Jan Kretzschmar

Professor, King's College

The ability to motivate and work in a team.

What soft skills should all pediatric physical therapists possess?

Jan Kretzschmar

Professor, King's College

The ability to empathize with patients and make them feel special.

What hard/technical skills are most important for pediatric physical therapists?

Jan Kretzschmar

Professor, King's College

Anything related to assessments.

What pediatric physical therapist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Adrienne Pinckney PT, DPT, Cert. MDTAdrienne Pinckney PT, DPT, Cert. MDT LinkedIn profile

Clinical Education Team Member & Assistant Professor of Instruction, University of Delaware

Even in light of the pandemic, I believe that entry level physical therapists (DPTs) should avoid taking a gap year after graduation (unless extreme personal circumstances warrant this decision). Licensed physical therapists are essential healthcare workers and are critical to the spectrum of care and recovery of all patients with a myriad of conditions and injuries, including COVID-19. As such, although PTs may not find jobs in the healthcare setting of their top choice, they will not have trouble finding employment in the United States.

If an entry-level DPT has to take a gap year for whatever personal reason, I strongly recommend that they make every effort to seek out PT mentorship and remain connected to the PT world through trying to be physically present in some capacity in a PT/rehab setting (either as a volunteer, PT aide/tech in a facility, administrative support . . . something) or even in any type of facility related to health & wellness (fitness center, wellness center, etc.), in an effort to stay connected to patient care and exercise their observation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills as a PT clinician. Taking a year off can be very detrimental to passing the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), which is required for PT state licensure (if the individual doesn't take the exam immediately after graduation), as well as detrimental to their overall skill set as quality physical therapists.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about pediatric physical therapist

List of pediatric physical therapist skills to add to your resume

Pediatric physical therapist skills

The most important skills for a pediatric physical therapist resume and required skills for a pediatric physical therapist to have include:

  • Patients
  • Patient Care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Autism
  • Home Health
  • Physical Therapy
  • Early Intervention
  • Kids
  • Treatment Programs
  • ABA
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Acute Care
  • Adaptive
  • Discharge Planning
  • Physical Therapy Treatment
  • Natural Environment
  • IFSP
  • Walkers
  • SLP
  • PTA
  • Treatment Sessions
  • Family Education
  • IEP
  • Adaptive Equipment
  • Outpatient Clinic
  • DPT
  • Developmental Delays
  • Program Development
  • Sensory Integration
  • Assistive
  • NICU
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Standardized Testing
  • Developmental Disabilities
  • Social Work
  • NDT
  • Genetic Disorders
  • Community Resources
  • Functional Mobility
  • Children Birth
  • Prosthetics
  • Orthotics
  • Therapeutic Interventions
  • Medical Necessity

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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