Standing Therapy!

Tessa is learning how to use the couch to help her balance and stand with her new orthotics. She started out just chillin, resting her head :)

There's that head control! She caught on really fast and did so good supporting her body and controlling her head.

She ended up wanting to watch TV, so we shifted from the couch to a chair so she could watch. Whatever helps keep her motivated!! ;)

And....we're taking a break! This is definitely when her pacifier comes in handy. And if you'll notice, not only can she stand on her legs, but she can also sit up tall with the extra support in through her feet and ankles. So cool.

Tessa has a strong tendency to try and use her tone to stand up. This is "using her tone for bad", so Ms. Melody is teaching her how to "use her tone for good"! We have to put a lot of thought into how to help her learn effective movement...like asking ourselves the motions we use in order to go from sitting to standing. Ms. Melody is showing her here how to lean forward over her knees and then to use her strength to help her stand. In the video it kind of looks like Melody is helping lift Tessa up, but she's not. She is just helping her support her head and giving her some trunk support. It was really neat to watch Tessa show herself that she could use her tone and experience effective movement to stand up on her own legs. The other motion Melody showed her was to bend and slowly sit back down. Just like Tessa has a tendency to use her high tone to move, she can also shut everything off to achieve something like sitting. We have to help show her how to lean forward and slowly bend and sit and not just relax all her muscles at once and give up in order to sit.

Anyway, here are a couple of glimpses into her new experiences standing and sitting!

~Whitney