With Cisco’s mobility challenges our focus is all about therapy and basic skills.
I’ve provided regular progression updates for Cisco. My last was in December. Cisco continues to use Sure Step orthotics (the same pair he got in December) and his DMO suit (he outgrew the first one in 3 months, we are now on his second suit but hoping to find a more adjustable and affordable option if he needs to get a third support suit when he outgrows this one). In February, he turned 3 and graduated from the counties early intervention program. We really miss his PT but have continued to have therapy successes privately.
In the spring, he started hippotherapy. It has been the best therapy of anything we’ve done. He is so motivated by the horse. He loves the horses and gets excited when he knows we are going to see them. When we started in March, he could take no independent steps, after we stopped in June he could take 2-3 steps independently when pushed to do so. A few weeks ago, he did a one week hippotherapy intensive since hippotherapy is on break for the summer. It was great. That is the week Cisco started drinking from a cup while holding the cup himself and started crawling up stairs. We were sitting on the bottom of the steps waiting for his turn to ride the horse. I was talking and suddenly i realize he is crawling up the stairs to the platform he uses to get on the horse. The next day, the last day of hippotherapy, he did the same thing. It was wonderful. He’s now back to weekly sessions for the fall.
In the spring, Cisco also took a special needs My Gym class. He really enjoyed it and all the equipment was great for him to climb and explore. We expect to take another class in the winter after hippotherapy is over (there will be a fall session and then we take off the winter) but plan to take a regular class with younger kids as they were willing to let us do that. The special needs class was filled with much larger kids on the spectrum with no mobility challenges. The parents were constantly worried there rambunctious child would hurt Cisco. It wasn’t a good fit.
Cisco is cruising. He is using chairs or anything that will slide on our hardwood floors to push to get around. He can climb on the couch and is just learning how to climb off. He now crawls very well. He’s been experimenting with putting his bottom in the air on hands and feet. He can use his walker to get through mulch and grass now and over small steps. He can get his walker to go any direction he wants to go. He can go a few steps with his strider glider bike without support. We plan to continue PT after the fall hippotherapy session is over.
Cisco now has an Accent 1000 Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) Device (basically a tablet with a built in large speaker and picture based communication software). He seems to be catching on but has trouble getting his pointer finger to the right spot and maintaining a pointer finger. I think his vision presents a challenge too. We took a break from speech therapy for the summer but I feel after a break we can work with the speech therapist to make good progress. I have found that he has increased his speech and words quite a bit this summer. He uses two word phrases both verbally and with his Accent 1000.
Verbal Words: mama, papi (dad), door, car, go, that, caca (poop), meow (cat), roar (dog and other animals), der (water), mapa (mommy and papi), dad (his brother), bull, bye-bye, no, and he also attempts many words when we say them as well as has said several words only once or twice then not again.
Signs: water, door, light, fan, potty, done, more, wash, sleep, no.