I'm Joanne and my youngest who is 5 has spastic quad CP due to extreme
prematurity ( he was a 26 weeker 1pound 14 oz). Alex is the youngest of
seven. If I do this right he will graduate Kindergarten this year at the
same time my oldest graduates from The Univ. Of Mich. Talk about time
warps!!!!!!
The topic of mentorship is interesting because of several reactions that
Alex has had over the past year.A year ago he had asked his oldest sib why
she could walk with her feet and he couldn't? Talk about a knife to your
heart. The past year he has had SDR and hip adductor surgery. He is flat
footed and can walk use a gait trainer.  He didn't take his first real
steps, under his own steam and determination until about this past May. That
is when my folks were in town visiting, the weather was warm and my dad who
wears an AFO for  foot drop was wearing shorts. Dad was walking with a
spring in his step and left Alex in awe. "Mom Grandpa has a brace how come
he can walk?" Well that's what the brace is for to help you walk not to keep
you from walking Alex. Two weeks later he started to take steps between
parrell bars.  A couple of weeks ago while waiting for a post op  visit
another little boy stood up and walked with AFO's. Look mom he can stand by
himself!!! Yep braces can help you do that too Alex. We're not there yet but
getting closer everyday.  Sometimes in the rush for full inclusion we forget
that there aren't very many people out there with CP. In Alex 5 years of
school he's been the only one who needs a WC.  There's been no positive
example for him to follow.  It's not to say I think we need to
institutionalize our kids with ( what a backwards expression I hate to say
it) "their own kind" but I really think knowing another with similar
problems to your own helps immensely with your own self concept.  Just my
observations from Alex's world.
Joanne