Physical Therapy: A New Journey

As some of you know, Brycen did not crawl until after he turned one and did not walk until almost 18 months old.  At the time, he was on track with all of his other development so it really wasn't a concern to the doctor.  About 6 months after he started walking is when he began regressing in all of those developmental areas.  He continued to have some issues with gross motor skills such as climbing stairs and jumping.  While he has come a long way in the last couple years with being able to climb stairs upright correctly (though his balance is unsteady at times or when he is carrying something) and he can now jump enough that both of his feet come off the floor slightly, he is still behind in so many areas. 

We have been so focused on his communication and other skills that we just hoped the physical skills would eventually come with some work at home.  His older cousin, Ethan, passed down a bike with training wheels to Brycen a couple years ago and Brycen absolutely loves it.  The problem is that he is 5 years old and still unable to pedal not only that bike, but a big wheel that he received a couple years ago also.  When we put him on the bike, he just rocks his body back and forth.  When we push on his feet on the pedals, he doesn't do anything.  So we just resort to pushing him around while he screeches happily for the ride. 

Last summer, we decided to get him a motorized tractor for his birthday that has a big button to push down with his foot to make it go.  Aubree was also given a motorized power quad for her birthday but the button to go is up by the handle so you just use your thumb.  We noticed Brycen still couldn't figure out how to push his foot down to activate the tractor though he did figure out how to use Aubree's quad.  Unfortunately, he is pretty big for the quad.  Fortunately, he doesn't seem to mind that he can't get his tractor to go and will just sit on it making those happy noises again! 

So over the last year, I have listened to parents talk about children younger than Brycen learning to ride a bike with training wheels and some even learning to ride without.  Some of these children also have ASD's and it reminded me about how he still can't catch on to pedaling.  It's like the wiring between his brain and his legs just isn't connected.  While he doesn't seem to understand all of this yet, I know that it won't be long before he notices other children riding their bikes around him.  I also remember riding a bike through my entire childhood...and to me it's a huge part of growing up.  Having a bike, learning to ride, enjoying the summer with friends!  Brycen has been missing out on so many things already that are a regular part of being a kid...and I refuse to add riding a bike to that list. 

This is where the new journey comes in.  I requested an order from his new doctor for a Physical Therapy evaluation at the clinic he goes to.  I already know who the PT is there and she knows Brycen so it wouldn't be a hard transition.  Tomorrow is the big day for the evaluation and since we've already talked a bit about it, she understands it's the pedaling, jumping, and balancing that he needs to work on.  To the public eye when we are taking a walk, it doesn't seem like Brycen has any obvious deficits since he can walk, run, etc just fine.  But we've let these "hidden" things go on too long now.  We thought it would slowly come, but after a couple years of working on this ourselves, he has made no more progress and it's not fair to him.  We aren't trained to be physical therapists, we are just parents that want the best for our son.  If that means we will be adding on a couple more therapy sessions a week until he catches up, then so be it.  While so many kids his age are out and about, riding their bikes and beginning to play in soccer and t-ball leagues...we will be taking him to and from therapy so he can work hard at learning those things that are supposed to come naturally to children.