Well, Jerard is crawling in his own unique way! He moves his hands forward and drags his feet after him - but at least he is on his knees!
I took him to see an orthopaedic rehabilitation doctor recently. She was most helpful. She strongly encouraged getting several therapy aids for him. She also recommended braces for his lower leg to help stretch his achilles tendon, as his feet tend to point down and are very hard to position into a 'normal' flat-foot position. We had the casts made for those and should have those braces by Friday of this week for him to start wearing at least 8 hours a day.
His big challenge now is to learn to sit up on his own, maintaining his own balance before he is age 4. Pray that he will be able to do that. Being blind is making it much, much harder for him to learn balance.
We sit him up often to play. Even this passive sitting up helps him learn balance.
These are two samples of therapy aids the doctor would like us to get for him. We will probably have something made, or make something like these items ourselves.
This is a 'standing table' to help gain balance and be able to
participate in normal activities of daily living. I would love to be
able to have Jerard help James and I in the kitchen when we bake cookies and bread. That sensory stimulation would be good for him.
This is a gait trainer that would help him learn walking.
This item we would not be needing until he is able to keep his
own balance.
We also hope to get him a ride-on bike with surround-seat and a large exercise ball for balance exercises.
Keep praying for Jerard. He is a blessing to us.
When the doctor was explaining his long-term needs/prognosis for walking she stopped and said to me, "Are you sure you want to adopt him?" I laughed and said, "Yes, I am sure. He is my son even if not legally yet."
And I was thinking to myself, "whatever it takes to help him progress as far as he can, that is what I am willing to do. How could I do any less for him when Jesus loved me so much as to go to the cross for me? And not just for me, but for all those He has called to Him. Yes, Jerard will need a lot of care and therapy but that's ok."