About Nikki
Nikki is an experienced and highly skilled physiotherapist with over 12 years professional paediatric experience. She has a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from St George’s University of London.
Since graduation Nikki’s practice has been solely focused on analysis and treatment of children and babies with movement and coordination difficulties.
Passionate about continuing to support children with their physiotherapy needs Movement Therapy For Kids was founded by Nikki Collins after her move to Norfolk in 2016.
Nikki specialises in early intervention and the treatment of babies and children with cerebral palsy and other neuro-developmental presentations, offering in depth analysis of movement and coordination to give individualised therapy and home care advice specific to each child.
Nikki is dedicated to further study and continuing her professional development.
While working in Cambodia, Nikki was awarded the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy International Development Award.
Overseas Experience
After leaving university Nikki travelled to Phnom Penh in Cambodia to set up a physiotherapy project to support The Borey Centre, home to 120 children mostly presenting with cerebral palsy and similar neuro-developmental conditions.
She spent two years observing, analysing and treating the children at the centre, with additional focus on training the local members of the care team in order for them to develop their own skills of how to handle and treat the children in their care.
This work gave Nikki invaluable “hands on” experience with children presenting with varied coordination and movement disorders, which is often not possible within the UK therapy system. Working in this way deepened Nikki’s understanding of how and why children move in the way they do when challenged with movement disorders and enabled her to develop holistic strategies to treat each child individually.
UK Experience
On return to the UK Nikki was determined to continue to work with children in this hands on dynamic way.
She worked as a special needs physiotherapist/nanny for a one year old boy with cerebral palsy, providing holistic 24-hour care by implementing therapy into all activities of daily living. This was an incredibly rewarding time and a privileged opportunity to really understand what it means for a child and their family when living with cerebral palsy.
Subsequently Nikki spent 5 years working at MAES Therapy, London. The clinic has a special interest in working with babies with developmental delay and children with coordination difficulties, movement disorders and whose presentations are complex and neurological in nature, such as cerebral palsy.
Working under the mentorship of Jean-Pierre Maes was a period of great learning, enabling Nikki to understand and analyse the most important aspects of coordination that each child needs to develop in relation to their unique difficulties, and to provide strategies through dynamic physiotherapy for each child to learn new skills.
- Special needs physiotherapist / nanny for a one year old child with cerebral palsy
- Physiotherapist / clinician at MAES Therapy, London for five years
Special Yoga is for all our special children and particularly supportive for Autism and ADHD, cerebral palsy and PMLD.
Special Yoga
Having practiced yoga for over 20 years Nikki had long been looking for a specific approach to share with the children she works with. She found what she was looking for with Special Yoga www.specialyoga.co.uk
The therapeutic yoga includes yoga practices of movement, breath work and deep relaxation combined with mindfulness, sound, rhythm, massage and sensory integration techniques.
The practice of Special Yoga supports children to thrive, to gain strength and balance, to find peace and fulfil what they have come into this life and this body to do. Taking the child out of stress and into a relaxed state creates the optimum condition and possibility for positive change and learning.
