Adaptive Sports Medicine Program
A Specialized Resource for Young Athletes with Physical Disabilities
The Adaptive Sports Medicine Program
Our program is a joint venture from the Departments of Sports Medicine and Orthopedics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Participation in sports offers important benefits, such as physical fitness, social interaction and mental wellbeing, to everyone – but these advantages may be particularly significant for young people with physical disabilities. Our experts offer children, adolescents, and young adults with physical disabilities a host of tailored resources to help them enter and excel in athletics confidently and comfortably.
The Adaptive Sports Medicine Program welcomes all children, adolescents and young adults with physical disabilities such as limb deficiency, limb deformity, pediatric amputation, limb loss, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and others. We provide young athletes individualized treatment, injury evaluation and diagnosis, rehabilitation, performance training, and strength and conditioning care. Our experts also partner with athletic trainers, child prosthetic specialists, the Sports Nutrition team, the Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement (GAME), and many other programs and services at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the community to provide comprehensive care for every athlete.
Please call to schedule an appointment.
What to Expect When You Visit the Adaptive Sports Medicine Clinic
Appointments at the clinic may include:
- Check-in and a health history taken by an athletic trainer
- A thorough physical exam or assessment by Dr. Napolitano
- Additional performance, imaging or motion studies as scheduled
- Creation and discussion of a customized treatment or athletic training plan
- Appropriate referrals to additional adaptive medicine resources at Nationwide Children’s or in the community
- Initiation of a rehabilitation or athletic performance plan with an athletic trainer
- Training for any at-home therapy or exercise that is recommended
- Sports nutrition counseling
Who Can be Seen at The Clinic?
The Adaptive Sports Medicine Program provides an individualized treatment experience for each and every patient. Our physicians and staff are trained to treat injuries, pain and functional problems and to provide athletic training for youth with a range of physical disabilities, including:
- Congenital or acquired amputations
- Limb deformities
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Spina bifida
- Cerebral palsy
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Combinations of intellectual and physical impairment
- Other conditions, such as muscular dystrophy
Meet Our Leadership
Now, young athletes with physical disabilities can see a physician formally trained and board-certified in both sports medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Jonathan Napolitano, MD, leads the Adaptive Sports Medicine Program. Dr. Napolitano has a specialized understanding of musculoskeletal health, amputee gait biomechanics and the common stress and overuse injuries facing children with physical disabilities.
He utilizes state-of-the-art technology, such as 3-D motion analysis, to dynamically assess anatomy and evaluate injuries.
Meet Our Team
Psychology
Physical Therapy
Certified Hand Therapist
Athletic Trainers
The Importance of Getting and Staying Active
Physical activity can offer benefits to every young person, but exercise may be especially valuable for youth with physical disabilities. Appropriate functional accommodations, expert care in case of injury, and access to specialized training can help physically disabled youth confidently and comfortably take part in a wide range of activities.
Participation in sports offers the chance to:
- lower body mass index
- improve self-esteem
- reduce depression
- improve social skills and relationships
- help build a long-term resource network
- improve long-term heart and lung health
- develop skills such as sportsmanship, teambuilding, leadership and resilience
Athletes of all skill levels, as well as those with no prior participation in sports, are welcome to schedule an assessment with the Adaptive Sports Medicine Program.
Research and Innovation
Our experts conduct innovative research about adaptive sports medicine for children, adolescent, and young adult athletes with physical disabilities. We collaborate with other experts from multiple specialties at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and beyond, to continue to improve adaptive sports medicine care for children everywhere.
Research interests and current studies include identifying the benefits and barriers to sports participation for athletes with disabilities, physical activity in children with limb deficiencies and motion analysis of gait and adaptive sports.
Dr. Napolitano serves as medical director of The Ohio State University Adaptive Sports Medicine Research Program. Learn more about The Ohio State University Adapted Sports Institute here.
Other Adaptive Medicine Resources at Nationwide Children’s
Patients of the Adaptive Sports Medicine Program also have access to all of the program’s extended resources, including:
- Limb Deficiency Clinic
- Play Strong
- Sports Nutrition
- Sports Performance Training
- Biomechanical Chair Analysis
- Biomechanical Video Analysis
- Prosthetics and Orthotics
- The Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement (GAME)
- The Center for Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction
- The Section of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
