Over the years, Jayden has continued to progress. He is 13 years old, stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
He can sit on his own and rock. His Occupational Therapist informed me that this is a vestibular need that he craves. So now every morning he is allowed to rock for about 20 to 30 minutes.
He keeps himself up and balanced, sometimes lifting his hands off of the floor to clap or practice balancing.
Jayden absolutely loves to bounce, so one of his daily activities is to bounce.
When he does this activity, he sits up, his back is straight and his he is up.
He bounces on a peanut, but he started out on a Rody.
He has really been pushing through his feet and actually beginning to almost stand up!
We had so much fun creating Jayen's Active Learning space. We may have gotten carried away.
He loves his Active Learing Room and everyday when we load him up to go over, he gets so very excited.
Jayden has an awesome team of women! Some of them are his care providers, some of them are volunteers. But without their help none of these activities would be possible.
I am a strict believer that a wheelchair is for transporting only. I do not like Jayden left in his wheelchair.
So with the help of his wonderful team he comes out of his wheelchair every morning by 9:30/10 every day and does not go back into it at all Monday through Thursday. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, stays out all day until 6.
They make sure he gets physical activity everyday. He is now 13 years old. Stands 5 feet tall and weighs 100 lbs. Their assistance is an essential part of his daily activities.
I found a track system that I could put up in his Active Learning Room. It is a 4 post system from Easy Track.
I am able to install it without having to drill into the ceiling. And the 4 post system allows movement anywhere within the 4 post.
Yes it was expensive, but as I've said, I sold my house so I had the funds and he is so worth it.
Jayden will bear his own weight and dance!
It's his own form of dancing but he enjoys it and it has led to him standing to get out of the wheelchair and sometimes to get into it. This is extremely helpful.
I give him what I call, "free time" in the HOPSA. My goal is for him to learn how to move himself around in it.
He moves away from the board, but it is up to him to get back to it. But what he learns on his own, he remembers.
Jayden is a happy child, dispite his condition. He finds joy in some of the smallest things like rocking, bouncing, music, laughter, and even wind.
He does everything he can to please me and does it all with a smile. His laugh is completely contagious.
He likes clapping and loud noises and loves to hear other children.
He loves his care providers and his granny.
He loves his visit from Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.
And he loves me!
I could go on and on. Like how he loves his special friends and water, his baths and having his teeth brushed.
This is why i do everything I can for him. This is why I do Active Learning with him. This is why, when I sold my house I found his Active Learning Space and use those funds to pay rent every month.
He is most certainly worth it!
It is just another way for him to move himself around. He moves himself by rocking in it and since rocking is one of his favorite activities ...well let's just say I it worked to both of our advantages.
In September my husband unexpectantly passed away, leaving me with our house. It was large and empty and had no carpet. We would take him to it to jet mobil around the house. He loved all that room.
Our church, Santa Fe Christian Church, allowed us to work with him in the sanctuary and we were able to build on his progress without having to stop due to the hot summer conditions.
When the weather is cooler, we love to take him out in the empty parking lot and let him go! If he has the handle bars turned he will go around in circles, which we really love because he is doing it all on his own.
Since he loves music so much, I sing his favorite song when he is peddling. In this video I am not singing, but boy, just look at him go!!
This whole process of him learning took about a year. We spent a lot of time taking him down a driveway, but it was easier for him to peddle down a slight slope than to peddle even on a flat surface.
Now when the weather is cool I bring his trike home and he loves to peddle around the block, which is about 1/4 of a mile!
In addition, when we took him in for his eye exam this year we were informed that he is near sighted. We have always been told he saw nothing. He now has glasses and when he rides around the block he seems to love looking around at everything.
The Active Learning Room was finally ready and within the first week, by April 15th, we could see progress!
He would sit up and play with his toys on the board without having a harness on! Granted it was only for a few seconds, but he had never been able to do this before.
He would also stand bearing his own weight to play with the items on the board. This all within the first week of being in the Active Learning Room.
And he started moving himself in the gait trainer to play with the different items on the board.
But you can see how rough he gets with them which is how he was able to break the rope I had used.
I next purchased some peel and stick tile for the floor. I have since discovered that was not a great idea, as the tile will not stick to a concrete garage floor for long. I recommend either using a glue to get the tile to adhere better or using some paint designed for garage floors.
Also, I used rope to "lace" through the peg boards, but Jayden could break the rope i used and I ended up redoing them with 1/4" elastic.
I would have preferred to put a window unit in the garage, but the "landlord" decided he did not want me to do that. I found air movers work pretty good to pull cool air into the garage from the house.
I also purchased and placed seals all around the garage door to keep the cool air in and prevent heat from coming in.
After waiting and waiting for years I finally had an opportunity to create an Active Learing Space for Jayden.
In April I found a garage to rent. 300 square feet, all for Active Learning!
First we installed peg boards which would allow me to get Jayden's favorite toys and noise makers in front of him. This way when he was standing, or sitting his activity would be in front of him, not down on a table. In addition, he now has a reason to stand up and sit up!!
First I "laced" a some rope through the peg boards and purchased some clips so I could attach the items to the boards. I wanted the clips so that I can move them or change them if needed. Then I measured how high I would need to install them on the wall so he could reach them. I wanted him to reach up, not down.
