The world of Therapies

After our first physio appointment, which was at the same hospital that Hunter was born in, i felt both relieved and frustrated, relieved as she was very good & told us that Hunter was mild & yes he will ride bike, run & be a perfectly normal boy, with just allot of work, i was inspired to get home and keep practicing, i wanted to know everything i could do, and when was our next appointment, so we could get on with things, well, once we finished she got her appointment book out and booked in appointments for the rest of the year... 3!!, that's it!, & we were in august now. i couldn't believe it, she said basically there is no staff & she is the only physio & is booked out, i could contact the spastic centre of Australia and see what they could offer, but if i did this i had to give up her.. in her words, "your not allowed to double dip!", you can only take advantage of one service offered. I didn't understand, so i said well is there other physios & she said yes if you want to pay, well i didn't care about paying, i just didn't know it was an option, the DR only gave me this appointment.
So off we went to our third Pediatrician, asking about the spastic center & a private physio. She gave us the info for both..
The spastic center took a while to get into, but once we did its been our saving grace, Hunter started Conductive education here is a link and a little about it www.thespasticcentre.org.au/services/conded
Conductive Education is a systematic and holistic approach to develop problem- solving skills through an educational program for people with cerebral palsy and motor disorders. It is not a therapy, but a multidisciplinary system that enhances the child's physical, cognitive, social skills and emotional well being. Conductive Education is not just an exercise, it is "learning to learn" by intensive and repetitive practice, and, the application of various activities necessary for progress. This applies to motor skills, balance, sensory and perceptual functions, emotional development, language and cognitive functions. We go once a week to the classes, & Hunter loves it.

We also have Hydrotherapy once a week, & see an OT, Physio every 2-3 weeks they have done so much for us. Hydrotherapy is so good , as Hunter strength isn't so good, so we practice standing in only waist deep water, he can get the feel of this without it being so hard, it also teaches kids about swimming safety.. & its fun he loves the water so much.

The private physio we got is a lady called Robyn our sessions are as much for me as Hunter, i learn everything i can & would spend every spare moment doing exercises at home. Hunter sat up at 5 months, might have been balancing on his chubby belly for a while there, but to me he was sitting & apart from not rolling to his right , wasn't that delayed.
The next couple of months saw me doing alto of research into therapies including CIT Constraint induced therapy. Where the non affected arm/ hand is wrapped up or put in a plaster cast & the brain learns to train itself to use that arm, I remember when i first discovered that Hunter wasn't using his right arm/ hand i strapped up his left arm (this was at 3 months old), wow he would bring his right arm up, after telling the physio this, and doing some research i discovered that it is a therapy.
Hunter had a splint put on his right had to help keep his thumb out i believe this has helped so much, his hand is very relaxed, its only when he is doing a new exercise that he stiffs up.
I also went to my last Mothers group in this time, after seeing all the other babies rolling & sitting up I left one of there houses' one day, and cried all the way home.
Hunter sat up at 10 months, he had almost done it the physio way (rolling over & using his arm to push him self up), but one day he was on his stomach and used both arms to push onto all fours and sat! we were so happy, he just kept doing it.... Then the bum scooting started, i thought it was fantastic that he was getting around.. the physios not so much. It was about this time that i was getting very concerned about Hunters right hand, he never used it. he had been given a mitt to wear on his left hand but honestly i didn't really know how to use this, its allot different than doing exercises on the floor with them, he hated it, although i truly believe it is the best thing to do.
I have to mention this there is a book by Norman Doidge its called The Brain that changes itself... its amazing & gives you so much insight into the brain, made me feel so good.