Slow and Steady

When Bryce was about five months old he began receiving Early Intervention services, and will continue to receive them until he turns three. Every month we have an Occupational and Physical Therapist come into our home and do about an hour of therapy. Twice a month we have a Vision Therapist come, and once every quarter we have a Speech Therapist over. We are also lucky enough to have a Care Coordinator visit us once a month and she is like our family counselor.

I love all of Bryce’s therapists! They have been such a blessing to our little family. Not only do they provide therapy, but they teach Jus and I how to continue his therapy during the rest of the month. They have also helped us with so many other things, like getting Bryce’s wheelchair and providing us with information about other resources we could look into for help.

We Love His Wheelchair!

Bryce has progressed so much since he started receiving services. His progress is slow, but every little thing is a HUGE accomplishment for us. After all, slow and steady wins the race! When I think of how it was when Bryce first started compared to now, I am so proud of how far he has come!

In the beginning, Bryce only tolerated a few minutes (three at most) of therapy before he started fighting and screaming. Most of the time he would fall asleep after only five minutes. I’m not going to lie, it was discouraging. Although we couldn’t get a good therapy session in, we did learn that it was easiest to stretch and move his arms while he was asleep. After months of this, he slowly began tolerating more . . . well, more occupational and visual therapy.

When we first started therapy Bryce couldn't lift his head during belly time.

Physical therapy is an entirely different story. In fact, he absolutely HATED it. On the bright side, because of physical therapy we learned how incredibly smart Bryce is. After a few visits from his PT (physical therapist) he figured out what her name was. From then on, if he heard me say “Cathy is coming today” he would IMMEDIATELY throw a fit. He wouldn’t stop crying until he fell asleep five minutes into the session, even if she didn’t come until four hours after I said her name. It didn’t take long before Cathy became She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Although we stopped saying her name, Bryce knew exactly what her voice sounded like. As soon as she walked in the door and said, “Hi Bryce”, he would start his tantrum. After a few months he realized that even though he cried his PT would still work with him. So he began falling asleep as soon as he heard her voice . . . or so we thought.

Turns out Bryce is an EXCELLENT actor! When he is asleep there’s not a lot we can do with him for physical therapy. Instead Cathy asked how he was doing, if he was improving and described new things we could try. It was during one of these visits that we realized he really wasn’t asleep. I was answering a question when we saw Bryce peeking. I started talking to him, so he thought it was safe to be awake. Then Cathy said something and he IMMEDIATELY shut both eyes as tight as he could and pretended to be asleep. Even his breathing was slow and deep! Sometimes he can be quite the stinker.

Unfortunately for Bryce, we were on to his smart little trick. He couldn’t fake sleep to get out of therapy anymore. After five minutes of him screaming, Cathy would give him a break, usually between five and 10 minutes. Then we’d do five more minutes of therapy followed by another break. It was slowly paying off. By the time he had received services for one year, he could tolerate 20 minutes of therapy before he needed to calm down. It was a HUGE step in the right direction.

Shortly after the year mark Cathy was assigned to a different area. I was sad to lose her. She was wonderful, even if Bryce disagreed! Luckily our new PT is just as amazing. At first, Bryce fought and cried through his session, but he never tried his little tricks on her. Instead, after about 30 minutes of therapy he really would fall asleep. Just like with Cathy, the more his new PT worked with him the more he could tolerate.

First Time Standing! Yes, He Is Asleep.

Then one day she brought him a stander. The first time we put him in it he decided it was just another way for us to torture him. Fortunately he fell asleep pretty quickly so we were able to spend the rest of the visit adjusting the stander to him. This meant he had to be placed in it, taken out, adjustments made and then he was placed in it again. Since Bryce can sleep through pretty much anything it didn’t take long to make the stander perfect for him.

For the next four months we attempted placing him in it at least once a day (didn’t always happen, but we tried). As soon as he felt himself being lowered into it, he immediately started fighting. I just have to say, it’s not easy trying to strap down a flailing little boy. Somehow we managed it, and the next five minutes were spent trying to calm a screaming Bryce. Of course it never worked and he’d almost make himself puke from crying so hard.

Bryce's AFOs. Aren't They Cute?

Finally our PT recommended we get Bryce some AFOs (Ankle Foot Orthoses) to help him while in the stander. So we did, hoping they really would help. We gave him a break from his stander for a month while he was cast for the AFOs and they were made. Oh my goodness, the difference they have made is INCREDIBLE! Now Bryce can tolerate being in the stander for five minutes before he starts throwing a fit! It doesn’t seem like much, but for him it is a big difference. On especially good days (maybe twice a month) he can tolerate 20+ minutes without ever getting upset.

Good Day For Standing!

For some reason (maybe because he’s older?) since we got his AFOs he hasn’t fallen asleep during a PT visit. Sometimes he’ll get upset and cry a little, but it has been a while since he’s had a tantrum during a session. In fact, last week he had the best visit ever. He was so happy the entire time he didn’t stop chatting! His PT was even able to try new exercises with him! This is how we learned he can sit (with the support of a boppy) completely on his own! MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Although therapy has been stressful for him these past two years, it is so rewarding to see how far Bryce has progressed!

“Without a struggle, there can be no progress”

 Frederick Douglass