Physical Therapy

I was able to go in and watch Justin's therapy session last week. I try to get into each one at least once a month if I can just to see how things are going. It has been a while since I have talked with Miss Penny very much, and I always enjoy chatting with her while she works with Justin. It was a special treat for me.

She is very impressed with Justin's arm strength. She sets up a little "obstacle course" with uneven surfaces and things for him to climb and then always the basketball hoop at the end. He used to have trouble switching surfaces and his arms would collapse and he would smack his face, but now he can control himself much better. He even likes going down high surfaces face-first and he doesn't fall. It's pretty funny, but really good for him too.

This week she hooked a balloon to a string and hung it from the ceiling for him to hit with a baseball bat. She wanted him to stand to do it, but she put it too low and he could hit it from sitting down, so she had to move it up and then he wasn't interested anymore. His interest shifts quickly!

He also jumps on the small trampoline for a little bit, but he has only started doing that within the past few weeks. She still has to hold his knees straight because he buckles them too quickly. She can get about two jumps out of him.

She has a large foam tube, like that you could get inside and roll, that's a little shorter than him when you set it on end. She sets it up on end and then throws bean bags next to it for him to squat down and pick up and throw inside. He figured out that he could get several at a time so he didn't have to squat down so often, even though that's the point! Then she puts him inside the tube and he squats down and throws them out. It's harder on the inside and he often stands on them and then can't pick them up. But that's still one of him favorite activities.

I talked to her a little about walking to see what she is thinking. She said that he tries to go so fast that he doesn't get good steps. He takes such huge steps that there is no way he could balance like that, so she leans him back against her legs to slow him down and that makes him mad so he won't take as many steps. She said her goal is to get him to take two or three steps by himself without falling by October (when he's 2 1/2). Part of what makes it hared for him is that most kids learn to walk in bare feet and they can feel and grip the floor. Because Justin's ankles are so unstable, he needs the orthotics and shoes and thus he loses the feeling.

I was thinking that Justin started crawling last October and I never thought it would take more than another year for him to walk. It's good that every day we can see improvement and I don't have the foresight of the big picture. Sometimes, hindsight is better!

It was a good session and I am thankful for all our therapists. We had a minor emergency this week and I needed to drop Justin off a few minutes early for therapy so I could run a quick errand, and all his therapists were glad to keep him and entertain him for a few extra minutes. They all fight over him and love his personality quirks. That makes it SO much easier to go there week after week. They are part of our family!