The Walker

Speaking here about both the piece of the equipment and the boy!

Joseph has had a really rough week with therapy. I was even considering changing his schedule to only one day a week because he was having such a hard time--lots of crying, and refusing to do anything Shannon asked him to do.

But, then, he asked to go in his walker today and he's suddenly making real progress around the room. He doesn't walk as fast as a typical two-year-old, but he can go about as fast as Margaret. I think his newfound speed is really encouraging. The walker has become a useful tool, now, not just something we use for therapy.

I'm hoping that the walker can become more typical for him to use around the apartment. Since our space is so small, it might become manageable, and things are more accessible to him, for the most part. School kids, for example, often use a walker around the classroom but a wheelchair to change classes.

The wheelchair is definitely a big hit when we're out and about. We've bring it to church every day, now, and we've also used it at the grocery store, the library, and on the Metro. The independence is so good for Joseph socially--and a lot easier on me!

Shannon has worked with him on a lot of different "gait styles". He's sort of shuffling along here but he sometimes takes more traditional "steps" and sometimes hops with both feet off the ground at the same time. This method is getting him going fast, though, so I think he likes it. He was on a mail truck kick when we took this video, so he starts talking about that at th end--sort of a non sequiter. I couldn't get another good video tonight, and thought you'd all appreciate this up us as soon as we had it.

And, at the rate Margaret is going, maybe I'll have another video to upload before too long!