Case Studies & Testimonials
Real-world experiences of individuals and institutions using Rebound Therapy.
These case studies and testimonials have been provided by parents, carers, educators, physiotherapists, and other professionals who have seen first-hand the outcomes of Rebound Therapy.
Katie
Katie's First Rebound Therapy Session
Katie is 8 years old and cognitively age appropriate. She was born three months premature and has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, which affects all four of her limbs and her trunk control. As a result, Katie is a full-time wheelchair user and experiences high muscle tone and difficulty with balance and voluntary movement.
Objectives for the Session
Katie’s parents approached her first Rebound Therapy session with an open mind. Their primary hope was that the experience would be fun and engaging, while also helping Katie relax some of her muscle tightness. Katie herself was enthusiastic about the idea of trampolining and the sense of movement it might bring.
What We Observed During the Session
Katie responded immediately and positively to the trampoline. Supported by the instructor and the session leader, she felt stable and safe on the bed from the start. Her session began with gentle, rhythmic bouncing that seemed to bring both emotional and muscular relaxation.
A particularly effective activity involved Katie sitting on a ‘peanut’ therapy ball while bouncing. This simulated the motion of horse riding – a familiar experience for her – and challenged her core muscles while remaining fun. As the session progressed, her feet and legs, which are typically stiff and tight, relaxed downward. She began pushing gently into the trampoline surface, becoming increasingly active in the process.
The most surprising moment came during a parachute stretch – a simple sensory exercise that encouraged a full release of her trunk muscles. Her posture softened, and for the first time that session, she let go completely into the movement.
Was It Worthwhile?
Absolutely. The changes in Katie’s physical posture were visible and significant throughout the session. Her muscles gradually relaxed, her hands opened into star shapes, and she demonstrated control and core stability that she struggles to achieve in other settings. A standout moment was when she sat upright in a bean bag on the trampoline – without support.
Although one session alone isn’t enough to create lasting physical change, the immediate benefits were clear and measurable, and the emotional impact on Katie was just as profound.
Katie said, “Do you know why I liked it? It was fun exercise.”
For Katie, fun exercise is the best therapy.
Scarlett
Scarlett's Introduction to Rebound Therapy
Scarlett was introduced to Rebound Therapy through her school, The Seashell Trust. The therapy forms a regular part of her curriculum and quickly became one of her favourite activities.
During a visit to the school, Scarlett’s enthusiasm was clear when she greeted her therapy teacher, Ben, with a hug and excitedly asked for the “ickle ickle queen” – Scarlett’s way of saying “trampoline.”
This existing love of bouncing, combined with the structured therapeutic approach, makes Rebound Therapy an effective and enjoyable way for Scarlett to learn and grow.
Therapist Insights
Scarlett’s therapist, Ben, shares how Rebound Therapy is tailored to meet Scarlett’s needs:
"Scarlett really enjoys her Rebound Therapy sessions, smiling and laughing throughout the session, with occasional looks of surprise followed by giggles when we introduce something unexpected and new.
As well as having fun, the Rebound sessions are a fantastic way for Scarlett to develop self-awareness, self-confidence, and communication skills. Through engaging in challenging activities, Scarlett is developing her ability to cope with and make sense of new experiences, alongside the development of sensory processing strategies.
The trampoline is an excellent medium to explore sensations and Scarlett’s responses to vestibular and proprioceptive input. Scarlett has moved from needing lots of support when encountering new experiences on the trampoline, to actively seeking new ways to have fun.
It is hoped that Scarlett’s newfound confidence will support exploration in new and exciting challenges in her daily life, and help her develop her own strategies to regulate her sensory needs."
Theo
Theo has cerebral palsy and experiences challenges with coordination, muscle tone, and core strength.
Why Theo's Trampoline Setup Works
Capital Play, who supply the In-ground trampoline that Theo uses at home, provided us with the following report:
“Unlike many children with cerebral palsy, Theo can sit up on his own and although he would ordinarily use his wheelchair to travel around larger distances, he is able to move around on his knees in the garden and at home.
Theo’s mother, Laura, explained that physiotherapy is offered by the NHS up until school age, but then the funding for this tends to fade away. This is why she took the initiative to sign Theo up for a Rebound Therapy programme, which was tailored to his needs and requirements by Paul Kaye at ReboundTherapy.org.
The In-ground Trampoline is completely flush to the ground, which means Theo can access the trampoline all by himself. Mum Laura admits that, at the age of 7, Theo has started to get rather heavy for her to lift, and so this is a benefit that not only Theo enjoys, but Laura too!”
Why Rebound Therapy Keeps Theo Engaged
“It was very obvious to anyone watching that Theo clearly sees his Rebound Therapy sessions as great fun, which meant the sessions didn’t fall into the category of ‘boring physio exercises’ and kept him completely engaged regardless of which exercise he was doing.
His Rebound Therapy session consisted of a range of exercises and games all designed to help with coordination, building muscle tone, core strength, brain stimulation and reflex reaction development. All of these exercises have been designed to be performed on a trampoline, taking advantage of all the physical and sensory benefits a trampoline can offer.
Exercises such as this take great concentration from the participant, but because they are so much fun and involve the wonderful sensation of bouncing, they are far more likely to commit themselves than if it was a standard physiotherapy session. This is particularly true for children.”
We have seen a remarkable change in a little girl who attends our school. She has CHARGE syndrome and spends a large proportion of her time in a wheelchair.
She is 8 years old, and when taken out of her wheelchair and stood by her rollator, she often refuses to walk and sits down on the floor. I suggested some Rebound Therapy with a parachute, moving her limbs by rolling up the parachute. The first time she saw the parachute, she took interest and was spontaneously more lively.
She seemed to really enjoy the attention and having her limbs stimulated in this manner. Our objectives are: enjoyment, more movement, and hopefully leading to more mobility. Evie was visibly excited, and this in itself caused some slight spontaneous movement in her legs. The session was very well received and more than met my expectations.
I am teaching 2 students who are learning to walk again following brain injuries.
Student A’s injury was due to meningitis, and Student B was involved in a road accident.
With Student A, I have been teaching her back bounces. This is strengthening her core muscles and helping her to develop improved coordination. We have also been sitting her on the trampoline, and I have been walking around her while she stays still. She said this is a great help to her due to not being able to walk, as this is a strengthening exercise that she can do.
Student B has problems with walking. I first met him 8 weeks ago, and he was in a wheelchair. Now, with the aid of a stick, he is almost walking. B has problems with his balance and coordination, so I have been teaching him to jump. At first, he was rocking the bed, then jumping with me supporting. Now he can jump with two feet in the air and stay in the middle. Seat drops are the next thing we are going to learn. He is really happy that he has started trampolining and feels this is helping to gain his balance and develop his poor muscle tone due to being in a wheelchair.
We started Rebound Therapy a few years ago, using Sports Grant money to fund the training and the trampoline. It had such positive results that we increased the number of sessions from one to three. We use Pupil Premium funds for key pupils for one session, Sports Grant for another session, and our own PSFA – school charity money – to fund another.
The pupils have responded amazingly well. We’ve had pupils on the autistic spectrum use their communication consistently to request – the only situation in which they do this, as they are so motivated. We’ve had challenging pupils who hardly ever respond to instructions follow everything we ask and calm down sufficiently to be able to access a work session afterwards, when usually they struggle. We’ve had pupils’ self-esteem skyrocket, as this is something they can do, are good at, and get a certificate for. We’ve had pupils with sensory needs find the deep pressure calming, and others improve their motor control.
The main impact is that pupils who find any PE session difficult to access are able to be active on a trampoline – and their enjoyment is a joy to behold.
Parents take their pupils to Rebound sessions at a local centre and report back that the child copes better with demands at home and loves the sessions.
Our main issue is lack of space to keep the trampoline up – it has to be cleared away for lunchtime – and the cost of staffing to deliver sessions. Otherwise, we’d do it for every pupil in the school every day!
Rebound is an excellent resource we use at Brookfields.
We have two trampolines and a number of staff are trained to deliver sessions.
In these sessions, there are a number of outcomes we achieve on a daily basis.
Firstly, pupils develop their physio and physical skills, where we do physio stretches/movements with them on the trampoline to help with their overall movement. We also work on communication during these sessions. The trampoline, for most, is a real motivator; therefore, we have had lots of excellent interactions and communication through sign, symbol, and speech for more verbal pupils, for example. The trampoline is also used at lunchtimes for lunch clubs, where pupils are able to choose to go on the trampoline, which is something they really do enjoy. Autistic pupils really benefit from Rebound through various different factors.
I feel Rebound is such an important part of our PE sessions at Brookfields School, and it is important to train as many staff as possible so that pupils can go on the trampoline with staff they trust and feel confident with. Rebound works on key skills that pupils need in other lessons and in their everyday life, such as communication, resilience, risk-taking, determination, and relaxation. Rebound is a big part of PMLD/SLD pupils’ lives at our school, as it aids the ability to move freely and enjoy feeling a range of movements that they may not have had the opportunity to feel on the ground.
All staff recognise the importance and value of Rebound Therapy at The South Downs Special School, which we have taught for the last eight years.
Achievement and progress have been apparent in physical development, as well as benefiting pupils in areas of their personal and social development. It has been used to support independence, communication and interaction, and social skills such as turn-taking, peer assessment and evaluation. It is also a supportive tool for those with therapy programmes.
Cross-curricular links have been made using Rebound Therapy, such as descriptive language in literacy, comparative language and ordinal numbers in maths, and the effects of forces in science, to name but a few. Colleagues and parents often report an improvement in a range of areas including core strength, coordination, eye contact, fluency of movement, muscle tone, height and depth perception, stamina, and a general sense of achievement and self-confidence. Our aspiration now is to enable staff on our other site to train to deliver Rebound Therapy, so all pupils have the opportunity to experience its benefits throughout the school.
We use Rebound Therapy as part of a PE carousel on Thursday afternoons within our PMLD department. This includes students aged 11 to 16, who receive half-termly or termly block placements.
The therapy benefits them immensely in many areas. We have noticed considerable progress over short periods and often get a better response and level of engagement – particularly from our more complex students – on the trampoline than we do in the classroom. Not only does it promote their communication, but it also affords them a unique physical opportunity to come out of their wheelchairs and move their bodies in a way like no other. Our current difficulties arise around … time.
We would love to have an area in the school with a sunken trampoline that could be used all day, every day, as currently only the PMLD students are accessing Rebound Therapy, and many other students across the school would benefit too. (We have set up a freestanding trampoline in the sports hall.)
More Success Stories
Ty Swadling
Tutor in Australia
Ty Swadling is a highly experienced Rebound Therapy practitioner, qualified PE teacher, and international-level trampoline athlete. Alongside his brother Shaun, Ty has been delivering Rebound Therapy programmes throughout the Hunter region of Australia for over a year, bringing specialist knowledge and a passion for inclusive movement to the community.
Introducing Georgia
At the start of 2012, Ty was introduced to a student named Georgia – a bright and likeable young girl with Cerebral Palsy and blindness. When they first met, Georgia relied heavily on her cane for mobility and lacked confidence when moving across different terrains.
In her very first Rebound Therapy session, Shaun introduced Georgia to the trampoline environment. Understandably, she was hesitant – more focused on tactile exploration than physical activity, and reluctant to follow instructions. It was a challenge to fully engage her in structured exercises, but importantly, Georgia left the session having had fun – and she wanted to return.
A Moment of Triumph
Georgia’s breakthrough moment came in August 2012, when she took part in the Hunter Regional trampoline trials in a special event category. Although she didn’t perform a full competition routine, Georgia independently climbed onto the trampoline, found the centre, and waited for the judges’ instructions.
What followed was a moving demonstration of progress: she bounced unassisted for around 15 seconds, completed quarter turns, and demonstrated purposeful, recognisable jumps. Even when she lost balance, she executed a safe fall to the flyaway pads and returned to standing – all with composure. She ended her routine with a moment of stillness and a huge, heartfelt smile, met with resounding cheers from her school peers in the audience.
Acknowledgements
Rebound Therapy Australia would like to commend Shaun Swadling and Tyson Austine for their dedicated work with Georgia, and Ty Swadling for his ongoing support of the programme. Special thanks also go to Brett Austine, whose commitment to supporting students with disabilities – particularly in competitive trampoline events – continues to create opportunities for young people like Georgia to thrive. Brett pioneered this initiative and remains a vital part of its success.
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