This week the group met to review the Conductive Education Therapy and how it addresses CP. Hand outs were distributed prior to which listed every type of delay, learning and behavioral problem and physical impairment associated with CP. And it was lengthy. My first reaction was “this is depressing” to which the conductor replied: “you need to know because many things can be prevented or minimized”. The talk ended up being really productive and focused largely on developing a mind-set of raising your child like an age appropriate child who, despite their physical limitations, needs to adapt to their environment and cannot be held back because they are “sick”. They really hammered home that many barriers end up not being overcome because parents don’t think their child can do things like be toilet trained (guilty) maneuver a knife/fork (guilty), walk, communicate etc. so they end up doing too many things for them and the child grows up expecting not to try or succeed. And while it is definitely more challenging to teach/learn, the pay-back is huge because every dependency that is removed is an opportunity for accomplishment and success in the child’s life. They also really pushed the idea that therapy doesn’t end with “traditional” sessions - rather it is woven into everyday things to reduce as many dependencies as possible and to train the child to “walk” to the door rather than be carried etc. Almost every point they made they would reference a child they had encountered, with very extreme and preventable outcomes. It was a discussion worth hearing and I left with lots to think about. Following the meeting, I stayed back and spoke with Kevin (owner) and Kristina (Thomas’ teacher) to discuss the possibility of extending Thomas’ therapy into the next session. Kristina needed to assess Thomas’ readiness to determine if he would be able to participate in an older group (3-6 years) which meant that he would spend a large portion of that time without me in the room. Surprisingly, Kristina thought that Thomas would be ready – he was making progress settling in and wasn’t resisting as much (still had some work to do), but believed he could manage. As well, he was responsive to the program. Coincidently he had just completed his two best days yet - just that day he used his walker up a set of shallow stairs and then down a ramp! He was beaming and another mom Amanda noticed and said “you must be so proud” and I was! I knew too, that Thomas was in good hands to respond to this next challenge, they knew him really well and he respected their authority and also liked them. It also made a lot of sense to extend the time while he had already settled rather than go through the initial shock again.
Later that day,(still reeling from the news that we were staying on till March 9th!) Thomas attended his first chiropractor appointment. He was assessed the previous day and were told that three areas along his spinal cord needed to be adjusted. At first I was worried about adding something else to the mix (our days were already so full) but I had a feeling that he might need this addressed – an X-ray on his spine done a year ago showed a slight curve that we were told was insignificant but Thomas’ alignment is really important in the overall picture.
Of course the big build-up to the week was Thomas’ 3rd birthday. He received an early celebration during Friday’s class; his teachers presented him with a cake and sang Happy Birthday. The following day, we hosted a pizza lunch (rather than dinner), since we now had 5 confirmed out of town visitors – Cynthia and the girls, Leslie/Patrick and Suzanne. It was great to receive family and show them around and to tap into outside news (a bit isolated here). Adrienne of course loved spending time with her cousins. It was a busy and fun day – and Rob and I actually made it to the Barley Room later that night (but had to stop at the Laundromat on our way!). Thomas of course enjoyed the pizza, cake and throwing balls/bean bags to “Pat” in the hyperbaric oxygen tank.
The one highlight that particularly stands out in my mind this week was seeing Thomas intentionally open and shut his eyes. I first noticed it when I washed his hair and asked him to close his eyes, but I thought it might’ve been instinct. Then I noticed another time (again, in the bath) he had this look on his face, kind of a slight grin and his eyes closed very lightly and then opened. I continued to ask him to do it without success, even tried to develop a turn-taking game of closing eyes – he wouldn’t budge (although he enjoyed the game). He has successfully done it about 8 times and it’s getting easier for him each time. I think it’s one of many things that requires a concentrated amount of coordination so I’m always excited for him when he has the ability to overcome that. As long as he is learning to accomplish new things, he is enlarging his world and giving himself confidence that things are possible. Speaking of which, his potty training is coming along (people have been asking!), and he is averaging 3 hits each day and when this happens, he lets me know with a reassuring “yeah!”
This week our group passed the halfway mark to the session and I am so relieved that we are staying on. For the first time since Thomas’ diagnosis I feel like we are really concentrating on his needs and he is responding in all areas. I really believe that this is where we need to be.
