Good Shepherd Pediatrics is offering an eight-week therapeutic dance program this summer for children, starting Thursday, July 9. The program will be held on Thursdays from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Health & Technology Center, 850 South 5^th Street, Allentown. Children must be 5 to 13 years of age to participate.

The therapeutic dance program is designed to increase development of lesser coordinated children using movement, music and games. The program aims to:

• Reinforce skills such as balance and foot/hand coordination
• Increase a child’s overall coordination and self-esteem
• Improve a child’s body awareness and sensory integration

Children must have a medical clearance from their primary care physician to participate.

Sessions will be led by Good Shepherd occupational and speech therapy staff. The certified speech therapist co-facilitating the program also is a dance instructor with more than 20 years of formal dance training.

“This is an opportunity for lesser coordinated children to experience the art of dance while developing self-esteem, body awareness and confidence,” says Sarah Schimpf, pediatric speech therapist and dance instructor.

The cost of the program is $80 for the eight-week session. To register or for more information, call Julia Gerancher, COTA/L, at 610-776-8310.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a nationally recognized rehabilitation leader, offering a continuum of care for people with physical and cognitive disabilities and specializing in assistive and rehabilitation technology. More than 60,000 people come to Good Shepherd each year for specialized programs in stroke, orthopedics, brain injury, spinal cord injury, pediatrics, amputation and more. Good Shepherd provides rehabilitation services in 8 eastern Pennsylvania counties. Good Shepherd operates 22 outpatient sites, 4 inpatient sites, a long-term acute care hospital, 2 long-term care homes for people with severe disabilities, an independent living facility and a lifestyle products online store called Rehability. Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine, began operations in July 2008 and provides post-acute care in the Philadelphia region. Good Shepherd was founded in 1908 when The Rev. John and Estella Raker invited a disabled orphan named Viola into their Allentown, Pennsylvania, home. Good Shepherd is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For more information, visit www.GoodShepherdRehab.org.