Teddy has attended physical therapy on average once a week since right before his first birthday. We've obviously had breaks in there for vacations, weeks with scheduling conflicts and the lag time between approvals for services. However, whether through school or outpatient services, Teddy has consistently had PT for more than 6 years.
That therapy initially focused on core strength for him, simply working to sit independently. When that wasn't possible, we focused on how to develop some protective responses for when his chubby little body succumbed to gravity. As he grew with his core strength, we focused on kneeling in a 4-point stance to learn to crawl, practicing those motions over and over until he finally mastered them (and quickly moved on to hopping like a bunny because it was easier).
We've spent years working on sitting in appropriate positions, which means everything from how to sit independently in a chair or on the floor to not sitting with his legs in the shape of a "W." I can't tell you how many times through the years, we've used the phrases, "No W sitting" or "Fix your feet."
We've spent countless hours practicing everything from bearing weight while standing, stepping with all sorts of adaptive equipment and bikes and other contraptions to help reinforce the idea of using both legs in a pattern to move.
The latest focus is safety on the stairs. At PT sessions, we spend time every week walking up and down the stairs, looking out the windows for something intriguing to see and throwing balls down the stairs to retrieve them. Progress is gradual, but it's noticeable. Teddy went from doing one to two steps up without holding on to now 5 or more steps. He's learning to slow down and focus on holding on with a single hand for descending. He's definitely improving his stair safety except for one thing ...
... the railing. Our home has a railing that is open on both sides to go upstairs. There's also a railing in our hallway that overlooks our living room and entry way, which means the ground is nearly 15 feet from the top of the railing. Teddy discovered a few years ago that he could attempt to hook his foot over the railing, but fortunately he wasn't tall enough to be successful. We put garland on the railings and left it up all year as a deterrent. It worked initially.
Unfortunately now Teddy is tall enough to scale over the railing, and the garland did nothing to deter him. It just rained little bits of fake green garland around the house that required me to vacuum more often (or realistically live with a dirtier house). Most often, he actually climbs up the outside of the stairs and then scales the railing to end up on the stairs. It's slightly safer than the other way, I suppose.
What terrifies us is him scaling over the railing and falling to the ground. It's bad enough on the stairs because that could be several feel to a significant distance. It's terrifying to think of him doing that from the second floor and falling down to the first floor. We've talked, half joking, about buying giant bean bags to serve as landing pads. Instead, Dave reached out to three people this week to get quotes to do construction to prevent the open railing between the floors. We'll see what they can propose ...
Until then, perhaps I should try a barbed wire garland?
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