Wade was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy- Spastic Hemiplegia Left Side. His muscles on his left side are really tight so it is difficult for him to have full motion of his leg and arm. This causes him to have issues with his balance and mobility.
Wade has always been that chill and easy going child ever since birth, which we have loved (his is our first and only)! He has an amazing smile and loves “taking care” of people. When Wade was born he had trouble with sucking and eating, so we ended up in the NICU for 2 days. Once he started getting a hand on eating, he never looked back. Around 6 months of age, we started to notice that he was not making milestones that a “typical” child is making and the doctor agreed. We then reached out to early intervention and started doing weekly meetings with an Occupational Therapist. During this process we were blessed with an amazing therapist that gave us things we could work on to help support his development. During the first year we were able to help support him in the ability to roll over on both sides and grow more strength in sitting up. Around 18 months our therapist suggested that we see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, this is when we got his official diagnoses of Cerebral Palsy. We knew this diagnoses was a possibility but it still came to us as a shock. Immediately we were on to the next tasks of getting him additional resources that could help support his development. We started to also have weekly aquatic physical therapy, where he started falling in love with the water and learning the motions of walking. He then learned how to scoot around, instead of crawling, and in the process blowing out several pairs of his shorts. Wade started walking at 2 1/2 years of age, a day that we will never forget. We have been blessed with some amazing therapists and doctors that have come into our lives not only for Wade’s benefit but for us as parents. They have given him skills that we wouldn’t have been able to give him. We have also learned skills to help support his development and knowledge to advocate for our child.
With this new found independence of walking Wade started exploring more riding toys outside. He really struggled with the confidence/ability to balance on the seats and actually ride these toys, due to his mobility issues. Once he found the cozy coop, he LOVED moving around, but again struggled with going very far, due to mobility challenges. As the summer of 2020 moved on he got stronger but started to grow out of his cozy coop, so we moved him to a normal tricycle. This is when his progress/exploration stopped, with his left side being effected and all the mechanics that is required to move on a tricycle. For Wade this included: balance on the seat, left hand able to grasp handle bars, foot able to stay on petal, and the motion of pedaling. As the summer wore on, Wade got to know some of the neighborhood children who where also learning to use other riding toys. Wade watched on as his friends started to grasp the concept and move around drive ways. This summer, it is our mission to help him be able to have a tricycle that he can be successful in and to give him more independence in his outdoor play. We were able to find a tricycle that would take some of the limitations away but also to help him build the concept of riding a bicycle.
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