The Survival Guide for Kids with Physical Disabilities and Challenges by Wendy L. Moss

Author:Wendy L. Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781631980350
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
Published: 2015-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

Alexa was a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy (CP). Her goal was to get on and off the bus with her backpack by herself. Here are the steps that Alexa and her physical therapist created to help her reach her goal:

1. While wearing her backpack, practice stepping up and down blocks and steps at physical therapy.

2. Work with weights to increase her arm strength. This would help her support herself by using the handrail on the bus as she walks up the stairs.

3. Increase her speed going up and down the steps while wearing her backpack.

4. Do balance activities so her balance improves for walking on the stairs.

5. With her PT, practice using the stairs on the bus while it isn’t being used by anyone else.

6. The top of the ladder: Go onto the bus with her backpack on.

Once she took the time to break down her goal, Alexa knew her game plan. When she worked on each step, it was easier to stay motivated than she thought. She kept thinking about the goal and how good she would feel when she did it.

When you can see yourself moving closer and closer to your goals, it’s easier to stay motivated. However, setbacks can happen.

If you hit setbacks, it’s natural to feel discouraged and want to take a break. If you do take a break, make sure it’s not a long one. You don’t want to lose the skills you already attained. And you do not want to lose time before working to move past the setback.

“After I went through a growth spurt, my muscles were a lot tighter and I had to spend so much more time stretching. I was so frustrated and angry, I stopped doing any of my exercises.”

—Marco, age 12

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.