Hi,

How true!  It sounds like you are very dedicated.  Can is very lucky, keep
up the good work.  It is awe inspiring to see the progress.  Stephen
transitioned himself from a crawl to a sitting position, alone, just a few
months ago.  When that fact filtered through my foggy brain (I was cleaning
up toys from around him at the time) I sat down and cried.  We had been
told that if he didn't sit independently by age 3 he wouldn't ever sit or
walk.  Shows you how wrong the experts can be.  He sits, on his bottom,
most of the time now and is really working on walking.  He has a younger
brother who has been quite a motivator!  ;)

Also, it is vitally important for a child to put weight on his legs.  This
is important for proper bone development and formation!  

Best Wishes,
Kim

At 11:05 PM 6/15/1999 +0200, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>ever since he was 7 months old we have started Bobath therapy for our son
Can,
>who is challenged by quadroplegic CP. He is now 20 months old. In the
beginning
>we had 3 times a week 30 mins of PT, then for 3 months 5 times a week, not
back
>to 3 times a week, always 30 minutes sessions. We did participate in almost 4
>weeks of Petö therapy in Budapest Hungary, which was 2 hours every day. We
are
>scheudled to go back there in Spetember. In the past 2 weeks, we did 3 to 4
>hours 6 days a week on Bobath PT. On top of all this, Can is going "swimming"
>twice a week plus all the exercises that we do.
>He is now much more mobile and agile, he is beginning to sit better, but
not yet
>absolutely free, when placed on all four limbs, he will do the stepping
with his
>hands and will sometimes also pull the right leg forward, but he is still far
>from robbing or crawling, not to mention walking.
>Still, there has been constant progress over the past 13 months. He is saying
>Mama and Papa now and is babbling away a lot (like I am probably doing
just now
>:-)). It is slow, but it is constant progress and it is very amazing for
us, the
>parents, to note his great achievements.
>
>My advice to all parents out there with babies or young children dealing
with CP
>is to keep the faith in your child and to continue exercising. A LOT ! Don't
>listen to doctors OR PTs. Just practice A LOT ! Make it a game all the
time, it
>is important that the baby has fun and smiles. Stop when there are signs of
>annoyance. Then try again. As they get older, you may try to be more
insistive
>on the exercises.
>
>Our biggest problem is the different advice we get from all over the
place. The
>PTs at Great Ormond Street Hospital told us to use a stander, our local PT
here
>in Germany told us not to, and not to put Can on his feet either. Petö
says, you
>MUST put him on his feet as well, and Dres.Delacato have given us yet another
>set of exercises.
>
>Best regadrs, OG
>
>Barry Ashby wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a 4 1/2 yr old with athatoid CP.  Where therapy is concerned, I am a
>> firm believer in the more the better, especially in the first 5 years.  The
>> brain is continuing to form neurons and neural pathways.  The more therapy,
>> especially with good follow up at home, the better the chance that the
>> brain will form pathways around the injured areas.  My Stephen has
>> progressed far beyond what anyone thought he would and is sitting,
>> crawling, and pulling up everywhere (this is a problem since he still
>> doesn't have much balance or the protective movements used when one falls).
>>  Still we allow as much freedom of movement as possible, despite the trip
>> to the ER for staples after a head laceration.
>>
>> AFO's have been helpful in maintaining a continuous stretch on his achilles
>> tendons (I've been told that to be effective the stretch should be
>> maintained for at least 20 min.).  He has very tight tendon/muscles in all
>> his joints.  The AFO's also give him support while he is walking or
>> standing and his feet are areas of the body that he doesn't have to try and
>> control himself and can concentrate on other body parts while moving
around.
>>
>> We also use soft knee immobilizers at night while he sleeps for his
>> hamstrings (also very tight).  I was worried that we would stretch him
>> during the day then watch him spend 10 hours with his legs pulled up in a
>> fetal position.  These have helped a great deal also.
>>
>> Do you have a stander yet?  You might check with your PT to see if one
>> would be appropriate for your child. This also helps with stretching but
>> more importantly it allows the child to put weight on the hips, joints, and
>> legs to encourage better development.
>>
>> These early years are difficult for you...often feeling like a roller
>> coaster ride. It does get better!  Good luck to you all, it sounds like you
>> are on the right tract.
>>
>> Best Wishes,
>> Kim
>