PM's Progress March 2009

One year ago (March 2008) PM was diagnosed with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. It's been an eventful year.

PM was fitted with her first AFO (ankle foot orthosis) last April. She also has a UCB ( it actually stand for University of California Berkely - it's mostly an arch support that evens out the two sides in height) that fits inside the left shoe. She's set to get new ones this month already! When kids are growing, it's fairly common to outgrow their orthotics in less than a year. They keep her from "tip-toeing" due to a tight tendon and also the AFO keeps her from hyper-extending her knee, which she does when not wearing the brace. On her hand she has a Benik brace that keeps her wrist in a more neutral position (she curls it in) and the thumb out of her palm.

In October 2008 PM underwent Constraint Induced Therapy (read all about it HERE and see videos HERE). She didn't mind the cast much at all - she was more upset when it came off!!
Recently we've also been doing chew therapy as well. She tends to pocket her food and not swallow it.

She goes to Occupational Therapy weekly and we have a big list of Physical Therapy exercises we can do at home. She was recently seen by PT and still shows up at 7-8 months delayed in some gross motor skills (better than 10-12 months she started at!), but with CIT her fine motor skills have improved greatly in her hand (the results are always off because she can use her left hand very well). She will also for the first time be evaluated by a speech therapist this month to see if she will need some therapy there, too.