This week Meredith got to trial a gait trainer at Children's Hospital. It's kind of like a walker with lots of support. We ordered her one and it will take about 3 months to arrive - we are so excited! It's a Rifton Pacer like this one, but a newer looking model and a snazzy lime green color.
There is a seat and a snug support around her torso. The idea is to get her her legs to start making the walking motion. Hopefully with time, she'll learn to tool around in her little walker on her own. It was so nice to see her in the standing position and still be able to move her around her legs. Also, this is something we can use barefoot, which is just nice. No AFO's and sneakers - au natural : ) She seemed to like having her feet on the ground and overall was very happy being in it. She kept kicking her left leg out like a little kickstand and seemed to like putting her hand on the handle bar. We weren't sure a gait trainer would offer Meredith enough support, I pictured her being too floppy. But seeing her in this was really encouraging - think she might really take to this! She loves to move around, she just has no control over her movements. So this gives her the stability she needs while still allowing her to move. It was awesome and we can't wait for her's to arrive.
Im so glad it went so well! and so color coordinated! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, yeah - picking out the colors for all this equipment takes the sting out a tiny bit. It's like picking a color for your car, the most fun part : )
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