Neurologic Rehabilitation

If you suffer from a neurologic condition, rehabilitation may be necessary to restore your function and return you to daily living.

At UCI Health, we offer a collaborative approach to treating patients with neurologic conditions. Our skilled and compassionate team of speech, occupational and physical therapists work closely with you to identify and meet your personal needs and goals.

We increase your participation in daily activities by helping you improve your strength, coordination, movement, occupations, safety, communication, cognition and swallowing function. Where any ability has been lost, we teach you strategies to compensate for these changes.

Neurologic condition types

Our patients have a wide range of neurologic conditions that can limit their function. Neurologic conditions we frequently see and treat include:

• Peripheral nervous disorders, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
• Inflammatory myopathies/muscle diseases, such as dermatomyositis and polymyositis
• Degenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease
• Diseases causes by genetic disorders, such as Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy
• Seizure disorders, such as epilepsy
• Cancer, such as brain tumors
• Infections, such as meningitis
• Diseases to the blood vessels, such as stroke
• Injuries to the spinal cord and brain

Rehabilitation treatment team

Our team of specialists includes:

• Speech language pathologists (SLP): Our specialized speech language pathologists are trained to help you regain skills or learn compensatory strategies in the areas of communication, memory,  problem solving and swallowing.
• Physical therapists (PT): Our physical therapists can teach you how to prevent or manage your condition so you will achieve long-term health benefits. PTs examine each individual and develop a plan, using treatment techniques to promote the ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability.
• Occupational therapists (OT): Our specialized occupational therapists help maximize your functional independence and reintegrate you back into your home and community using the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations) such as self-care, home and community management and leisure participation.

Neurologic issues we treat

Our team works with a number of issues that arise from neurologic conditions. These include:

• Pain, weakness, tone and coordination changes in the upper and lower extremities
• Challenges returning to previous life roles and activities
• Visual-perceptual changes and/or vision disturbances
• Functional cognitive limitations, expressing thoughts and understanding others
• Self-care limitations, including bathing, bowel and bladder issues
• Difficulty managing home and community skills
• Behavioral and psychosocial changes
• Social participation limitations
• Falls and poor safety awareness
• Difficulty walking, standing and/or sitting
• Speech disturbances
• Swallowing difficulties

Neurologic condition therapies

We treat neurologic conditions by working with you to select therapies that meet your personal needs. We offer a broad range of therapies and services that help you achieve your personal goals. These include:

• Individualized evaluations
• Management of the upper and lower extremities, motor control re-training
• Vision screening, vision therapy strategies and vision referrals
• Functional cognitive retraining and strategies for life roles
• Home and community retraining (e.g., cooking, shopping, cleaning, transportation)
• Assistance with modifying the home environment to reduce falls and improve safety
• Self-care retraining
• Training in the use of adaptive equipment
• Training in the use of assistive technologies
• Assistance with returning to work, school and/or volunteer roles
• Balance and walking retraining
• Instrumental swallowing assessment
• Swallowing, speech and language retraining

Contact us

A physician referral is required for all rehabilitation services. For more information, call:

• Occupational and Physical Therapy: 714-456-5571
• Speech Therapy: 714-456-6682