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Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Gymnastics

We have come to a point with Elizabeth where physiotherapy sessions were not benefiting her as a child as a whole. Elizabeth does well at physio she does what is expected and works hard but it must be stressful for her to have to comply while being watched and coaxed by therapists. She was not being socialized with other children only to adults in her weekly phsyio. We enrolled her into gymnastics and for the past year and a half she has been thriving in gym class. In gymnastics Elizabeth is being challenged physically and she is also being socialized with other kids, she is waiting her turn, talking to other kids and getting out in the community.

Elizabeth loves gymnastics and her long time teacher loves having her in the class. I stay with Elizabeth and help her as she needs help for most things, Elizabeth is not physically able to do what the other children can do but she is mastering things on her own pace. Two of the biggest things she can now do is jump on the trampoline (she can actually lift her feet up and can jump for up to 5 consecutive jumps) this is HUGE for her. The other thing she can now do is when holding onto the uneven bars she can lift her feet to the bar, when we started she could not even bring her legs up an inch.

What I love about her current gym class is there are only 3 kids in her class and they have the gym to themselves. Distraction is still a big issue for Elizabeth and the limited kids keeps her engaged. We just have get her teacher to pay as much attention to the other kids as she does for Elizabeth as you can probably see the poor little guy in her class is bored to tears, I spend a bit of my time in the class praising the other kids as they feel a bit left out. Elizabeth still goes to biweekly physiotherapy as it is important that a trained professional keeps an eye on her and helps her progress but being in the community is just as beneficial.

7 comments:

Kat said...

YAY! YOU GO, ELIZ!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely!

Very impressive performance in those two videos!

Barbara

Sherry C said...

Look at those amazing skills, she can really jump and lift her legs to the bar. I'm so impressed she really making fabulous progress. It's amazing to see I hope Ashley will there some day.

Valeria said...

She is amazing. I love see her jumping! Love the video!!!!Happy ney year!!!

The Hull Munchkins said...

Wow, she is doing amazing! How fun that she is taking gymnastics.

Haven't had the chance to check blogs for a while. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
-Patty
(Abby's mom)

Melissa said...

Oh Nathan loved gymnastics too!! Now that we have moved I have to find a new place for him to go and I am getting him in swim class too!

Go Elizabeth!! The trampoline is the most fun!

Kellars Mommy said...

What a big accomplishment! I took Kellar to a few gymnastic sessions and he wasn't ready for it, it wasn't really structured but I felt like Kellar was a huge distraction and like the other moms were staring me down bc he was all over the place. I would like to try and get him back in it this summer when he turns 4..