As a physical therapist, Savannah Reeves invests a lot of herself in her patients. That's why she is so determined to help James and John Shirah manage their cerebral palsy with as much ease as possible.

"John has progressed to walking without any assistance device in the home, so we are up to independent, short-distance ambulation. We hope pretty soon that will be his standard at all times. And James is standing on the walker."

Understandably, James' therapy has been a much more intense process since his motor skills are less advanced than his brother's. Reeves says she uses a holistic method in her therapy sessions, which focuses on the age of the child and his or her functional ability.

"For James I'm using general manual therapy, working on range of motion for his lower extremities and upper extremities. We are doing strengthening because, in the middle of all that tone, he is very weak in his head and his trunk ... We are using a type of therapy called neural developmental treatment. It's the facilitation of the stages of motor development. So we are kind of working on the stages of an infant. Being able to sit, being able to come to sit, being able to stand, coming to stand and then walking."

In her 16 years of helping patients manage cerebral palsy, Reeves has seen children grow to adulthood and live productive lives despite the limitations they face.

"I've probably seen 100 kids with CP and of the 100 kids, probably only five to 10 kids did not gain function in their life."

Reeves describes the biggest mistake parents make when it comes to their child's progress.

"When a child has learned a new skill — especially when standing and walking — and the parent is afraid to let them use that skill functionally. And the fear typically is they're going to fall and hurt themselves. So some parents tend to hold their children back because they are afraid."

In the case of James and John, Reeves says their mother Roxann must do what she advises all her parents to do, that is, allow the boys to make whatever progress they can so that they have a chance to become independent adults.