will be submitted to active PBM and physiotherapeutic exercises.

For irradiation, the individuals will be positioned comfortably in lateral decubitus on the examining table. Three points will be irradiated at the lesion level with a wavelength of 808 nm, 25 J per point for 12 sessions. The same laser device (Laser DMC Therapy EC).

Physical therapy will occur twice per week after PBM for six weeks. Static balance exercises will be performed with the feet together and tandem on a variety of different surfaces (hard surface, foam rubber and carpets with different textures) and sensory inputs (eyes open and closed). Dynamic balance exercises will involve walking forward and backward on firm and foam surfaces and circumventing obstacles. Muscle strengthening exercises, squatting and changing postural positions will also be performed. All activities will be in the form of play to maintain the children's interest

will be submitted to sham PBM and physiotherapeutic exercises.

For irradiation sham, the individuals will be positioned comfortably in lateral decubitus on the examining table. The same laser device (Laser DMC Therapy EC) will be used but the device will emit sound but not light.

Physical therapy will occur twice per week after PBM for six weeks. Static balance exercises will be performed with the feet together and tandem on a variety of different surfaces (hard surface, foam rubber and carpets with different textures) and sensory inputs (eyes open and closed). Dynamic balance exercises will involve walking forward and backward on firm and foam surfaces and circumventing obstacles. Muscle strengthening exercises, squatting and changing postural positions will also be performed. All activities will be in the form of play to maintain the children's interest

For the PBM protocol, articles of interest were identified through analyses of titles and abstracts. Articles addressing PBM in experimental models or clinical trials of spinal cord injuries were included and articles not pertinent to the proposed study were excluded. Next, the selected articles were analyzed and used for the creation of an initial protocol (Table 1).

For irradiation, the individuals will be positioned comfortably in lateral decubitus on the examining table. Three points will be irradiated above the lesion level, which will be located using an imaging exam brought by the guardian on the day of the evaluation. After determining the lesion level, palpation of the transverse processes of the vertebrae will be performed. The same laser device (Laser DMC Therapy EC) will be used for both groups. For the placebo group, the device will emit sound but not light.

Electromyography (EMG) will be performed with the EMG System®. The participants will be placed on an examining table and the skin will be cleaned with tissues soaked in alcohol for the placement of the markers. Disposable self-adhesive Ag/AgCl surface electrodes (Noraxon) measuring 10 mm in diameter will be attached to the belly of the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior and rectus femoris muscles on both lower limbs to capture the EMG signals. A reference electrode will be placed on the left wrist of the volunteers to impede interference of external noise

The sensory evaluation will be performed using the Semmes-Weinstein kit (Smiles®), which is a set of six nylon monofilaments of the same length that exert force on the specific area tested. Each monofilament has a different color and diameter: green (0.05 g), blue (0.2 g), violet (2 g), red (4 g), orang (10 g) and magenta (300 g). The score ranges from seven (green monofilament) to 1 (magenta monofilament). The test will be performed on the following dermatomes: L1, L2, L4, L5, S1, S2 and S3.

Balance will be evaluated using the Pediatric Balance Scale, which consists of 14 items scored from 0 to 4 points. The maximum score is 56, with higher scores denoting better balance.