Physiatrist
Today was a busy day for Ryan and myself. Its the end of the school year and Ryan brought in his teachers and therapists a box of delicious cupcakes to share. He will have a weeks vacation and then will move onto a different class. Although he will be staying with the same teacher (which I'm quite happy about as she seems wonderful with the kids) I spoke with his principle and he assured me that the kids in the class will be more developmentally appropriate for Ryan.
After school we headed to our first appointment with a physiatrist (a Dr that specialises in physical medicine and rehabilitation). The kids in Ryan's school actually have consults with the partner of the Dr we saw but I decided to keep the appointment anyway. After a pretty intensive physical examination of Ryan including looking at how he moved etc we talked a little about adaptive strollers, walkers, chairs etc. He felt that the chair the school is using for Ryan is a little too supportive, and that Ryan should be using the Rifton Pacer at school and not the kidwalk. He wrote a letter to his teacher outlining these thoughts. He also suggested they use a benik vest or taping at times to help with posture. He looked at Ryan's braces and as i had thought Ryan will soon be needing a bigger size. He would like to try a hinged afo this time to facilitate a more normal gait. As Ryan doesn't "crouch" when standing he felt he could do without the support of the rigid afo's. Ryan's current orthotist doesn't really believe in hinged afos so we will have to have them made at another facility. He also wanted to get a hip xray done. Although he felt Ryan's hips were fine he wanted to get a baseline for future reference. Ryan is not standing or walking like a regular 3 year old so he wants to be aware if this starts affecting his hips in the future. He also gave me a suggestion of a great private PT near us that does Medek therapy. Ive heard of this therapy before and like any type of alternative treatment it can work well with some kids and not so well with others. But like anything its it the might help, wont hurt box so we may give it a try at some point.
All in all a really helpful appointment and I think this dr will be a great addition to Ryan's team.
After school we headed to our first appointment with a physiatrist (a Dr that specialises in physical medicine and rehabilitation). The kids in Ryan's school actually have consults with the partner of the Dr we saw but I decided to keep the appointment anyway. After a pretty intensive physical examination of Ryan including looking at how he moved etc we talked a little about adaptive strollers, walkers, chairs etc. He felt that the chair the school is using for Ryan is a little too supportive, and that Ryan should be using the Rifton Pacer at school and not the kidwalk. He wrote a letter to his teacher outlining these thoughts. He also suggested they use a benik vest or taping at times to help with posture. He looked at Ryan's braces and as i had thought Ryan will soon be needing a bigger size. He would like to try a hinged afo this time to facilitate a more normal gait. As Ryan doesn't "crouch" when standing he felt he could do without the support of the rigid afo's. Ryan's current orthotist doesn't really believe in hinged afos so we will have to have them made at another facility. He also wanted to get a hip xray done. Although he felt Ryan's hips were fine he wanted to get a baseline for future reference. Ryan is not standing or walking like a regular 3 year old so he wants to be aware if this starts affecting his hips in the future. He also gave me a suggestion of a great private PT near us that does Medek therapy. Ive heard of this therapy before and like any type of alternative treatment it can work well with some kids and not so well with others. But like anything its it the might help, wont hurt box so we may give it a try at some point.
All in all a really helpful appointment and I think this dr will be a great addition to Ryan's team.
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