PT & Ryan's Speech

Ryan’s only been going to Physical therapy for a month but I can already see improvements in his ability to do certain things. Yesterday , I was able to go with him and see some of the things he does and talk to the therapist about what we could work on at home. He really has a great time and probably thinks it’s just playtime. He does so well letting the therapist stretch his leg muscles (something he does NOT let us do without a fight at home) and has a fun time “playing”. There is a padded glider swing similar to this:

that he stands on (holding onto the ropes)with the therapist sitting behind him. She moves the swing back & forth, side to side and in circles. This helps with his balance & strengthens his legs. To work on getting him to jump, there is a trampoline in which they will practice bouncing on. His favorite object though is not a piece of equipment, it’s a toy. A play kitchen! His therapist has used this to her advantage though and incorporates different activities that involve the play kitchen and it’s play food. One example is she uses a small step and has him take the food one at a time back and forth from the kitchen to a bench and has him step on and off the step each time. The kitchen is next to a set of steps (stairs) so she has him walk up and down the stairs as well. He is getting better at using his left leg to step up and down and also alternating his legs going up and down. The thing that I got really excited about last week was that he kicked a ball! He has a soft soccer ball and we’ve tried working on getting him to kick it, but he just didn’t seem to get it. Last week, I asked him to kick it and after I kicked it to him, he kicked it right back!! I was awestruck because I didn’t expect that.

I am also amazed at how much Ryan’s speech has improved within the last several weeks. It’s so wonderful to finally hear him saying 2 & 3 word sentences and new ones every week. For the first time, I don’t feel stressed over his speech. Our Early Intervention Coordinator came to the house so I could update some paperwork and she was also amazed at how far he’s come. She even said, he probably won’t qualify next time they do the assessment (in January). I am almost sure preschool has helped..heck, it isn’t hurting. The reason I say this is because last weekend he started saying “mine” over and over again. I don’t even think he knows why he’s saying it or what it means. He usually starts saying it when he’s grumpy or tired. I can only reason that he’s picked this up from school, probably the other kids either taking toys from Ryan or vice versa..although probably the latter if it involves a car!