Faith's Adaptive Skiing Adventure

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I am usually all for Faith trying something new. Years ago, though, I drew the line at adaptive skiing. I knew that Dreams in Motion does an annual event at Huff Hills (North Dakota's largest ski area), but I was too afraid to let Faith try it. I just didn't know how she would do being strapped down so tightly, especially with her high tone and issues with her left hip.  At her day program, some of her friends had been going for years and Faith thought it sounded like so much fun. So, this year, I decided we should give it a try. Since there are only 20 spots available for this event, I got her registered the morning it opened up.  Lots of fresh powder at Huff Hills  As the event drew near, I knew I needed to get snow pants for her (since she had none) and make sure I had all the right winter apparel to keep her warm. That was also one of my biggest concerns is her getting too cold, which can cause her tone to increase even more.  As the day approached, she was...

Tough Decisions Regarding School and Therapy

It's that time of year again - time to make major decisions regarding Faith's school year. Last year we had to make the huge decision of Faith attending Kindergarten for half days or full days. We decided half days would be enough for her, considering she still had therapy sessions at the clinic in the afternoons. Looking back, I think we definitely made the right decision.

This year, we are looking at Faith attending school full days. With that decision made, it opens the door for many other decisions to be ironed out. Some of those have been very difficult decisions and as we make them, I find myself wondering if we're doing the right thing.

For instance, Faith has been seeing her physical therapist at least once a week since she was six months old. I have always dreaded the day that Faith would no longer see that physical therapist. Well, that day is coming. We decided to for-go physical therapy, until January anyway. We hope that by cutting PT from her schedule at the clinic, (she'll still receive PT services at school) Faith's lighter load will enable her to have more energy for school.

Last days of summer, which means it's time to start thinking about school again!

We have also decided to cut out Occupational Therapy (OT) at the clinic for about a month to see how she does in school full days. We're hoping that by being around the other kids during snack time and lunch, Faith will feel more motivated to feed herself, which is something we've been working on during OT.

We will continue with her speech therapy, to the relief of those who work there. They were worried they wouldn't get to see Faith at all anymore!

I hope we are making the right decisions. I know that if full days don't pan out, we will just have to take another route. The hard part about making decisions is the not knowing part. She has had one full day of kindergarten, and she had two full days at summer school - all of which went great. But this is going to be five days in a row, week after week. And when she's in school, it's not just class she's attending, she also has all of her therapies plus her special education program.

I wouldn't be so concerned if she was a good sleeper, and I knew she would regenerate her energy, but she doesn't sleep well sometimes and has decreased amounts of stamina as the week wears on. We just don't know how she's going to handle all of this. What I do know is that we do the best we can with what we've got and that someday in the future we can hopefully look back and say, yes, that was the right decision.

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