Therapy

This is for all of you who are interested in Ian's therapy. (I have people ask me what Ian and I do all day, which cracks me up! This is a large part of it.) We have wonderful therapists in Brookston that we see once each week. Every other day of the week, I do home therapy with him. We listen to music or stories while we do it to make it more fun for Ian. We start by putting the air splint on his left arm. This keeps his arm extended for as long as we can. (He usually holds this arm up close to his body so we are working on getting it straight.)

Next, we do leg stretches which take lots of time, but I couldn't take a picture of them since I am the one doing them and it takes both hands to do them. (I haven't trained Jack how to use the camera yet.)

Then, we do a little oral motor therapy with a vibrator. It stimulates the nerve endings in certain places around Ian's face. The hope is that over time it will help with drooling.

Now, the fun part. Ian sits up (supported in a corner) and works on reaching for items (especially with the left arm).

After that comes the really fun part, which I also couldn't take a picture of but he lays on his tummy on a beach ball and pushes himself up to strengthen his shoulder muscles. He loves to roll back on his feet and then shoot himself forward on the ball, which is not part of the therapy but makes for many giggles and squeals.

Next, we work on crawling. Ian gets around on the floor by rolling or scooting on his back, which uses the muscles that are opposite the ones that need strengthening, so we work on tummy crawling. It takes so much effort for him to do it but he's slowly getting farther and farther (6 feet instead of 2. :-)

And, of course there is also the Pony which you will notice at the top of this post because I couldn't get the picture to move to where I wanted it. He loves it (can you tell?) and uses it as much as I'm willing to follow him around and help guide him through doors. So, there you have one of our therapy sessions. I'm not sure how we will get all this in when he starts school.