Christina, the therapist (PT, PCS, ATP - wow, most of this I do not get anyway:-)) was very nice and very helpful. She showed us many interesting exercises we can do with Amelia. Until now we have been so afraid of mishandling her that we rather used only the safest positioning without experimenting too much. That's why I think this experience will be good for Amelia. We are in good hands of a professional who would not do any harm, and still will do a little push so Amelia can spread her wings and fly! Even during the session today we noticed her doing things that we have not tried or were not aware of. I was not aware that she favors her left side lying on her belly, and this is something we will work on,
we only knew that she favors her right side while lying on her back. She really enjoyed the gentle session and exercises, and we came back home empowered knowing how to handle Ami differently, to help her master her motor skills, or rather, to encourage her help herself as she is the one to do the job :-)
Any parents have experience with this type of therapy? I would appreciate any input.
That's great that there are some exercises to help Mimi. I think she will be progressing in no time. Nate also favored one side and would lay or roll over one way but not the other. Soon enough they have the strength and will succeed at everything. Good luck with the PT.
ReplyDeleteKasia, I never had PT for Preston but I am very interested to see what other parents have to say about it! I am also very interested to see how Amelia progresses. Please keep us updated and send us pics of your gorgeous baby!
ReplyDeleteKasia!
ReplyDeleteWe had and still have PT for Caden. I found there were pro's and con's to it .... and to this day I still am not sure how much it helps/helped Caden.
The first PT we had, had NO experience with achon kids, the second PT we had/have has experience with one other achon child. I think it is important for the PT to understand what our kiddo's are and are not capable of doing. I have given both our PT's quite a bit of literature on dwarfism as well as the developmental guidelines chart for achon children.
On the postitive side, as you mentioned, they are always quick to point out what side or position Caden favors. I appreciated some of the "tools" they brought for Caden to use - his walker was the biggest plus, and I also feel it is good for Caden to get used to taking direction from others ... so those are the reason's why we've stuck with it.
Ultimately I think our kids learn to do things on their OWN time! For me I just had to wait 29 long months for Caden to decide to walk independentaly! Hang in there :0)
I'm so glad that Amelia is enjoying the time with her PT. At the very least, she will love the attention and I'm sure the PT will make it fun for her. How could you not have fun with Amelia? She is such a sweetie, with all her smiles and giggles!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that you had a good first appointment with a physical therapist! I know I was surprised by the things like favoring one side that the PT pointed out with Simon because I guess I was just used to seeing him do things a certain way and didn't give it much thought other than that was his way.
ReplyDeleteSimon received physical therapy in the NICU, and then the PT through Infants and Toddlers Program began coming to our house to work with him when he was about 5 months old. She does not have experience with babies/toddlers with dwarfism, so whenever she tries an exercise or position that I am not sure is a good idea or not, I ask her to wait until I can run it by Dr. Ain (his ortho). Usually, when I run the question by Dr. Ain he suggests not doing the exercise/position/etc. and waiting until he can do so for himself without assistance.
Early on, the PT taught me baby massage with Simon, which he loved and it helped with his stiff hips and legs. He used to receive PT every other week until about 2 or 3 months ago, and she now comes once a month since there really isn't much for her to do at this point but observe Simon (he's now walking and running and doing the "typical" things he should be doing at his age).
For the most part, I think PT might have helped Simon a little (more so early on), but overall he really did do things on his own time.
Sounds great! I'm so glad that you are learning a good bit from the PT! We just started this journey with PT ourselves so I might have some upcoming posts on what Sonya will be doing and maybe some of it will help! Keep us updated on how things go!
ReplyDeleteYes!I just brought our son to this theraphy yesterday..And also the therapist teach us to strengthen his neck. He is 4 months old now but still cannot stand his head. The therapist also advice us to really take care of Aniq, because she said his bond are easily crack..For the meantime, the main focus is to strengthen his neck so he could stand his head on his own.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to your baby girl too!