An Update and a Word On Orthotics

First, an update on John and then on to the answers to your questions. John continues to do well. We are working on sitting unassisted which he is now able to do this for a couple of minutes while reaching in front of him. What usually topples him is when he turns his body to either the right or left, but he will get it with practice. He is able to maintain his balance if we stabilize his legs which is what we did when first starting to sit. We are also working on his standing which John is able to stand with us holding his hands.

The reason that we are working on standing is not that he is ready to walk because he is no where near that point. But I want him to feel what it is like to bear weight through his hips and his ankles. This also gives me an opportunity to see whether or not he distributes his weight evenly over his ankles.

This leads me to the topic of orthotics. Personally, I think that orthotics have their place and can help in warding off musculoskeletal problems. Before using orthotics to correct a postural deviation, one has to look at whether the deviation is skeletal or muscular. This analysis is best done by a PT who is familiar with this type of evaluation.

Weak muscles can and should be strengthened to hopefully improve the issue, whereas skeletal deviations often require more aggressive intervention. To apply orthotics to a child with muscle weakness may serve to weaken the muscle further; however, the use of orthotics can play a role in cases of muscle weakness. Therefore, it is important to get a proper evaluation as to the cause of the deviation.

It is important to remember that children with Down syndrome vary just as much as children without Down syndrome. Although it is important to note that children with Down syndrome do have a tendency to have skeletal deviations in feet and hips that require orthotics.
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As for the SPIO trunk support, I will give my thoughts in the next post.
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As for teaching a child with Down syndrome how to read which was also asked, I will have to pass that question off to a more experienced parent of a child with Down syndrome. I will say that Joy and I have always read to our children from a very early age until they were able to ready independently. While I have no first hand experience with teaching one of these children to read, we have already begun to introduce John to books by reading to him. John has 6 people in this family that love to read to him and we all share in that, so hopefully we will see some fruit from this in a couple of years.

As for the reading program asked about, I have not heard about this program.