Positioning and proper support for children with cerebral palsy is crucial to their development and also to interacting and engaging with their environment. While that sounds good in theory, few have access to the specialized chairs and standing frames that facilitate proper positioning and support.
One such child is Seb*. We first met him and his mom during our COVID relief distribution. Seb is five years old and has cerebral palsy. He desperately needed a specialized chair and standing equipment. We were able to get those resources to him and our therapy team started with a basic home program to encourage good movement patterns to assist with muscle and bone development. His mother jumped right in and quickly learned what needed to be done and worked with him daily. She called us whenever she noticed that he had a growth spurt so that we could come and adjust the equipment to fit him.
One day his mom contacted us and asked us to help with his seating at the place where he has speech therapy. The chair he was using there didn’t support him well and he cried during the session. Mom usually had to hold Seb for the entire 45-minute sessions.
We were able to arrange for a specialized chair for him to use at the speech therapist. It was fitted to provide maximum support for him. The next day we received a message from Seb’s mom. She said it was the first time in six months that the lesson went well because Seb was sitting like a king and didn’t fall to the side as he normally did.
*Name changed
