Physical Therapy

I thought I would share some info on the girls' PT. Most people think that DS is only a mental disability but it comes with physical disabilities also. All DS children are born "floppy" with low muscle tone. My girls were around 6 months old before they could hold their heads up. At nearly 8 months we are just now able to work on sitting propped up in a Bumbo chair or this special chair called a "tumble form". Luckily we were able to borrow ours because they run about $680. We expect crawling around 18 months and walking is generally reached around 2+ years. Physical Therapy doesn't actually speed up these processes, but it makes sure that the girls develop normal skills without unnecessary compensations (such as locking their knees to make it easier to stand but harder to walk...etc). The pictures show Lori trying to help the girls learn to reach and to want to stretch out to touch things. We work on rolling over and balancing while propped up. A lot of "Tummy Time" helps to strengthen muscles in their stomachs and backs enabling them to eventually sit & crawl. We are also starting to see them reach upward while laying on their backs. Recently I have had a small amount of success getting Tasha to reach up at me when she wants to be held. Small milestones are a great cause for celebration around here.

Right now we are doing very little PT as the girls have been very sick. Because of the low muscle tone, they struggle to cough from a normal cold and have a high risk of the cold moving to their lungs. Upper respiratory infections and pneumonia are very common in children with DS for that reason. I have spoken with numerous local moms whose DS kids have spent time in the ICU with these issues. We are just keeping everything around here low key and trying to get the girlies better. Please keep them in your prayers so we can get through the harsh winter months. Hopefully when things get back to normal we will get some better pictures of what goes on in their therapy.