Our Program

Founded in 2005, the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute (ICSCI) represents something remarkable in the field of paralysis treatment: hope. Until very recently, spinal cord injury treatment programs have focused their energies almost exclusively on the first six months following an injury. Experts believed that the bulk of their patients’ recoveries would occur during this acute period, and that recovery more than two years after an injury was impossible.

They were wrong.

Our interdisciplinary team is committed to the philosophy that with the right combination of therapies, recovery is always possible-even many months or years after an injury. Our therapy programs follow techniques that have shown great promise in helping individuals with chronic spinal cord injuries recover sensation, movement and independence, as well as achieve improved health and quality of life.

Our program is also unique in that it is one of the first in the world focused on rehabilitation and restoration for children with paralysis. Because relatively few children experience spinal cord injuries, most therapy programs are designed for adults, and must be modified for children. Not here. Our clinic was created with the needs of children in mind, and our team of physicians, therapists, nurses, social workers and educators has committed their careers to meeting the unique needs of children and adolescents with disabilities.

Because their bodies are already naturally inclined to grow and develop, children have a much larger potential for recovery than most adults. They stand the best chance of benefiting from our innovative therapies, and the lessons we learn from their success could help us make the dream of recovery a reality for the hundreds of thousands of people in the world living with spinal cord injuries.