NCT03325946

The FBRI VTC Neuromotor Research Clinic

Recruiting now Last updated 21 January 2026

What this trial tests

trial testing ACQUIRE Therapy in Neuromotor Impairments in 500 participants. Currently enrolling.

Timeline

1 January 2013

Primary endpoint
31 December 2029

31 December 2029

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Status	Recruiting now
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	500
Start date	1 January 2013
Primary completion	31 December 2029
Estimated completion	31 December 2029
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• ACQUIRE Therapy

Conditions studied

• Neuromotor Impairments — all drugs for Neuromotor Impairments →
• Cerebral Palsy — all drugs for Cerebral Palsy →
• Microcephaly — all drugs for Microcephaly →
• Autism — all drugs for Autism →

Sponsor

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Who can join

Adults 3 Months to 18, any sex, with Neuromotor Impairments or Cerebral Palsy. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The FBRI VTC Neuromotor Research Clinic was established and opened in May of 2013 to provide intensive therapeutic services to individuals with motor impairment secondary to neuromotor disorders. It is direct by Dr. Stephanie DeLuca and based on the principles surrounding ACQUIREc Therapy.

ACQUIREc Therapy is an evidenced-based approach to pediatric constraint-induced movement therapy, which refers to a multi-component form of therapy that is focused on helping children who have asymmetric motor abilities between the two sides of the body. Historically, ACQUIREc Therapy has the unimpaired or less impaired upper extremity constrained (by a cast or a splint) while also receiving active therapy from a specially trained therapist who shapes new skills and functional activities with the child's more impaired upper extremity but who is also a licensed Occupational or Physical Therapist (OT/PT). Therapy dosages are high much higher than tradition OT or PT - often lasting many hours per day, up to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 2-4 weeks.

Investigators have developed further treatments based on the same principles of intensive services combined with behavior shaping for other areas of the body that are also affected by weakness (e.g., the leg and trunk) also, but which usually do not involve constraint. These have been more generally labeled ACQUIRE Therapy.

All forms involve intensive, play-based therapy for children with asymmetric motor impairments of the arms and hands. The primary focus of treatment is to facilitate the acquisition of new motor skills in the child's weaker body parts through high levels of intensive therapy using scientifically-based behavioral guidelines. Therapy is also delivered in naturalistic environments.

ACQUIREc Therapy as a treatment method has been tested in two randomized controlled trials, and a specific manual for its implementation has been developed. Dr. (s) Ramey and DeLuca previously founded a similar clinic, The Pediatric Neuromotor Research Clinic, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where Dr. DeLuca directed the research clinic for 13 years and oversaw the implementation of the ACQUIREc Therapy treatment protocol in more than 400 cases.

This research will involve analyzing and interpreting the clinical data of children going through clinical procedures at the FBRI VTC Neuromotor Research Clinic. All participation is voluntary and no children will denied services if families choose not to participate.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. A clinical series using intensive neurorehabilitation to promote functional motor and cognitive skills in three girls with CASK mutation.
   DeLuca SC, Wallace DA, Trucks MR, Mukherjee K. · · 2017 · cited 14× · PMID 29258560 · DOI 10.1186/s13104-017-3065-z
2. Clinical use of ACQUIRE Therapy for Children Diagnosed With CASK-Gene Related Disabilities.
   Wallace DA, Rebekah Trucks M, DeLuca SC. · · 2024 · PMID 39610761 · DOI 10.1177/27536351241302852