We have been concerned that Megan was regressing because of the therapy walker. She started using it on Tuesday at school and then again on Wednesday evening at home. Thursday afternoon was the first time I tried to get her to walk somewhere just holding one hand and she wouldn't do it, she grabbed my hand with both of her hands and I had to convince her to let go. Then on Thursday night we tried to get her to walk to us from the walker - meaning she used it to get close to us and then we tried to get her to let go and walk to us but unless we forced her to let go she wouldn't.
Will and I talked about it A LOT. I talked to all kinds of people about it trying to determine what we should do. We continued to let her use it to walk around everywhere because we do believe in the premise of it teaching her that she can get from Point A to Point B by walking and that it is fun - and she lights up when she is doing it.
Today we even took her outside with it and let her walk around the driveway and yard with it. We planned a trip to the library for the purpose of letting her use it somewhere other than just doing laps around the house. Previously we were holding her hands to walk into and around the library. She loved getting to walk to/from and around the library. She loved having the ability to walk down a row and reach up to grab a book.
After dinner and Sam being put to bed it was time to work with her. We usually use this time at night to work with Megan so that Sam isn't feeling left out and so he isn't in her way (he loves to run in front of her).
Tonight I sat in front of the couch and Will was in his chair and she walked back and forth between us without us having a toy to entice her. She did it just for the sake of walking; and she did it VERY well. She was incredibly stable and balanced. She would start to fall over and was able to correct herself, get steady and then take off again. She went back and forth between us 16 times. Halfway through I started having her stand up from her knees when she went from me to Will. I was holding her back pockets and she was standing up by herself - meaning I wasn't lifting her. I was steadying her so she wouldn't fall on her head but she did all the heavy lifting by herself.
At one point Will left the room and Megan was walking from me to his chair. Twice she got in position and started standing up from her knees and I would grab her pockets to help her at the last minute.
When Will came back we were playing kick the ball in the entryway. I stood her up to kick it to him and instead she took off walking to him. When she got close he started backing up and she walked almost the entire length of the entry all by herself taking 25ish (I started counting late) steps. This is by far the most she has ever taken and she was perfectly steady. Watching her was like watching Sam walk - she was just doing it.
We tried to repeat this a few times but she was very sneaky and would manage to get hold of one of Will's fingers and then she would squeal with laughter the rest of the way as Will kept backing up.
Tonight was amazing to watch and so much fun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment