Grant Funds State’s First Pediatric Vestibular Disorder Clinic
| Later this spring, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will open the first pediatric vestibular clinic in Arkansas.
The new clinic will be under the direction of Madison Howe, Au.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology in the College of Health Professions.
In 2024, Howe received a $40,000 Chancellor’s Circle Grant to fund its establishment.
Pediatric vestibular disorders are balance disorder that can involve the main vestibular organ in the inner ear. Patients often complain of dizziness, imbalance and lightheadedness.
Following a comprehensive vestibular evaluation, the typical treatment for the disorder is a specialized form of physical therapy that involves exercises to improve balance and coordination through targeted movements. Often, a care team of specialists, which can include audiologists, otolaryngologists, and physical therapists, collaborates to address the underlying cause of the disorder.
Much of the equipment in the Audiology Clinic in the Education South building is already in place, but it’s programmed for adult clients. The grant has allowed the department to purchase some additional software and tools to modify the equipment for children. Howe said the next step is to train the care team on the equipment before finally seeing patients.
About 5% of children nationwide have vestibular disorder. They often are misdiagnosed or written off as “clumsy” or uncoordinated.
“The sad thing is that kids don’t know how to articulate what they’re experiencing to us. You don’t know what’s going on. You can’t experience what someone else’s balance experience is like,” Howe said.
Before Howe joined UAMS as a full-time faculty member, she worked at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for six years and continues to see patients at ACH one day a week. About 70% of children with hearing loss also experience a vestibular disorder. Physical therapy helps them to an extent, but they still struggle, she said.
“I had a patient one time, a little girl who couldn’t do gymnastics because she couldn’t balance herself on the balance beam,” Howe said. “And it just made me realize that’s a huge gap in care that we’re not filling.”
At several conferences, she heard of other large pediatric facilities offering treatment for pediatric vestibular disorder and how it had made such a difference in the lives of patients.
“Successful treatment had given them access and the chance to do things kids love like sports and dance and gymnastics. I really felt like our state needed that,” she said.
That gap also was an opening for Howe to learn something new and teach it to her students. She has seen firsthand what a positive difference treatment can make.
One child she treated had been in physical therapy for two or three years with little progress. Working with the child’s parents and physical therapist, Howe shifted the focus of the therapy toward addressing a vestibular disorder.
“That child made substantial progress and ended up getting to play soccer the next year, which was a huge thing for him. He was really excited. And that physical therapist was so welcoming of learning something new and getting a new resource,” she said.
Plans are to see at least two patients a week in the new clinic.
“We’ve all worked with patients that may not be making progress like we want and we feel like there’s a missing piece,” Howe said. “And that’s why I think this clinic will be so cool because it will be that missing piece that not only can help a child but also can help other therapists to be better at their jobs, too.”