Down Syndrome Awareness Month continues with a quick post about setting high expectations...
I am constantly pushing people that interact with Sweet Pea to have high expectations for her as she will more often than not, rise to the occasion. It may take a little longer, but she gets there. As good as I am about pushing other people to believe in her, I'm guilty of babying her as well. This is a perfect example...
Just a few days ago I posted a video of Sweet Pea "Swinging with Style". I posted it because it was a cute video of her having a blast and being her quirky little self. What I didn't realize is that I was not pushing her to be the best that she could be. Every time we would go to the park, I'd automatically put her in the baby swings...the ones that you can put a 6 month old baby in without worrying that they will fall out. All typical 3 year olds are in the big kid swings that require them to hold on in order to avoid injury. I had tried the big swings a couple of times, but without any expectation that she would be able to do it. I would set her on it, hover over her and when she would immediately say "all done" I would move her to the baby swing.
We were at a park the other day and it only had one baby swing which was being used by another child and someone else was already waiting in line for it. I had both girls with me and there were two big kid swings available so I figured why not try. It was sand below so if they fell it wouldn't hurt too terribly bad...hopefully. I put both girls on their swings and pushed them lightly and they had a blast! They even performed a safer (thankfully) rendition of their swinging with style kicking! I was so proud of both of them! (Video link)
I happened to volunteer at Sweet Pea's school a few days after that park experience and I asked the aides who assist Sweet Pea on the playground if they had worked on that with her. They readily admitted that they had, but that it was Sweet Pea who had requested it and that she now asks them to push her higher! To hear that Sweet Pea is advocating for herself and is asking others to both figuratively and literally push her higher makes me such a proud Mommy!
I need to take a lesson from her (again) and not let myself get stuck in the routine and continue to take the safe path. I need to keep pushing the envelope with her as even I don't know where she can go and what she can do. I do know that she can do a heck of a lot more than I ever imagined when we were first handed her diagnosis and I need to keep that in mind every minute of every day. If I want others to see her as the capable individual that she is, I need to also!
Showing posts with label swinging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swinging. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2012
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday Thoughts
This entry may not be of much interest to my family and friends, but if anyone from the DS community ever reads this they might be able to use something from it...
This morning Sweet Pea and I went to a playgroup that we attend monthly that is for kids with DS. It's at a local therapy center and so they have a swing, lots of mats for easy rolling, a ball bin, etc. They have a couple therapists that volunteer their time and it's always been very fun and informative. Today was no different.
We start the group with circle time and they sing a couple of songs. Then they broke into two groups (walkers and non-walkers) and we started in the room with the mats. We asked many questions of the PT and she showed me a few new tricks. She hasn't seen Sweet Pea in a couple of months and was very happy with the progress that she is making. Then we went into the other room with the big swing hanging from the ceiling and we were able to have Sweet Pea sit in the swing and then kneel in the swing. She loves swinging so it was a lot of fun. Swinging is so good for our kids as it is a whole sensory experience within itself. The PT that was in this room taught me how to hold her while we swing with her on regular swings. Let's see if I can explain it...
I would have sat on the swing and held her in my lap looking out so that she could see what was going on. The PT informed me that by doing this I would be allowing her to not use any muscles to hold herself up because she would just lean against me. Her recommendation was to have her sit facing me with either her legs around my waist or just sitting on one of my thighs with her legs hanging down. I should have my hands on her torso and lower them down as she gets better at balancing as we swing. Since there is a park nearby that has swings I am excited to try this out soon.
The other really cool thing that they did with Sweet Pea was put her on this 18"x18" skateboard type thing on casters. They rolled her all around while they held her waist and watched how she reacted when they would change direction and her balance would need to adjust. She did great! They then rolled her up a ramp and back down it and she loved it and was maintaining her balance really well. Once she gets more stable sitting on it they would have had her do it on all fours. It's something to think about recreating here at home. Here is a picture of what it basically looked like.
We like our current therapists, but I always like going to these playgroups because you get a different perspective and can learn a few more tricks to try. One other trick I learned today was how to practice kneeling with Sweet Pea. She currently sits on her feet a fair amount when we try kneeling, but she did push up a little today when we were doing it. The PT said that it was good to start that way because it was teaching her to bear weight on her femurs. We should sit with her in kneeling position using the couch with the cushion removed to allow her to hold on for support. She will then eventually be sitting upright with both her thighs and torso in a straight line. Once she can do that, then we should bring one foot up and have her down on one knee (as in a man proposing position). Alternate which leg you use so that they both get utilized. Eventually, she would then be ready to pull to stand from that position. We are learning how to break skill down into much smaller steps and it's amazing how quickly success can come once you do that. It takes persistence, but we always try to make the work we do with her be fun so she isn't really aware that she is working.
Disclaimer: I am not a PT or OT or any type of therapist...just a mom who is trying to share some of what she's learned to help others. Consult your own therapist before trying any of this.
This morning Sweet Pea and I went to a playgroup that we attend monthly that is for kids with DS. It's at a local therapy center and so they have a swing, lots of mats for easy rolling, a ball bin, etc. They have a couple therapists that volunteer their time and it's always been very fun and informative. Today was no different.
We start the group with circle time and they sing a couple of songs. Then they broke into two groups (walkers and non-walkers) and we started in the room with the mats. We asked many questions of the PT and she showed me a few new tricks. She hasn't seen Sweet Pea in a couple of months and was very happy with the progress that she is making. Then we went into the other room with the big swing hanging from the ceiling and we were able to have Sweet Pea sit in the swing and then kneel in the swing. She loves swinging so it was a lot of fun. Swinging is so good for our kids as it is a whole sensory experience within itself. The PT that was in this room taught me how to hold her while we swing with her on regular swings. Let's see if I can explain it...
I would have sat on the swing and held her in my lap looking out so that she could see what was going on. The PT informed me that by doing this I would be allowing her to not use any muscles to hold herself up because she would just lean against me. Her recommendation was to have her sit facing me with either her legs around my waist or just sitting on one of my thighs with her legs hanging down. I should have my hands on her torso and lower them down as she gets better at balancing as we swing. Since there is a park nearby that has swings I am excited to try this out soon.
The other really cool thing that they did with Sweet Pea was put her on this 18"x18" skateboard type thing on casters. They rolled her all around while they held her waist and watched how she reacted when they would change direction and her balance would need to adjust. She did great! They then rolled her up a ramp and back down it and she loved it and was maintaining her balance really well. Once she gets more stable sitting on it they would have had her do it on all fours. It's something to think about recreating here at home. Here is a picture of what it basically looked like.
We like our current therapists, but I always like going to these playgroups because you get a different perspective and can learn a few more tricks to try. One other trick I learned today was how to practice kneeling with Sweet Pea. She currently sits on her feet a fair amount when we try kneeling, but she did push up a little today when we were doing it. The PT said that it was good to start that way because it was teaching her to bear weight on her femurs. We should sit with her in kneeling position using the couch with the cushion removed to allow her to hold on for support. She will then eventually be sitting upright with both her thighs and torso in a straight line. Once she can do that, then we should bring one foot up and have her down on one knee (as in a man proposing position). Alternate which leg you use so that they both get utilized. Eventually, she would then be ready to pull to stand from that position. We are learning how to break skill down into much smaller steps and it's amazing how quickly success can come once you do that. It takes persistence, but we always try to make the work we do with her be fun so she isn't really aware that she is working.
Disclaimer: I am not a PT or OT or any type of therapist...just a mom who is trying to share some of what she's learned to help others. Consult your own therapist before trying any of this.
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