Benched

Drake has been working on sitting unassisted on a bench at CCS. When he wears a pair of borrowed AFOs, it really helps break up the tone in his feet and legs and he can sit for 30 minutes on the bench without falling off. 30 minutes is the max they will let him wear the AFOs since they aren't his and sometimes leave red pressure marks on his feet.

We were given the AFOs to take home and instructed to put them on him and have him sit on a bench for 30 minutes per day. It's amazing how quickly this exercise has strengthened his trunk and improved his balance! He can now do all kinds of upper body movements while sitting on this bench - clap, high five, play with a toy, eat - and still maintain his balance.

I took a video of him sitting on his bench today. You can see how he almost loses his balance a few times, but is able to self-correct. At the end, he is calling out for me, and even when he gets excited/anxious (which can kick in the tone), he still doesn't fall! This is only 40 seconds of video, but he ended up sitting there for a good 15 minutes, then grew tired of watching the US Open and wanted off...