Chez PLJ

Jon’s new walker has finally shown up. The delay wasn’t a supply issue, but rather a provincial co-funding issue, but I’ll rant about that another time.

It’s quite something to see Jon trying to surmount 11 years of not having to consider how to steer your body with your legs. Nothing in Jon’s experience has prepared him for a task like a U-turn, which is markedly different from anything he’s done before. On a therapeutic trike or wheelchair, it doesn’t require anything new from your legs: either they just sit there or they peddle, right? But a U-turn in a walker requires your legs to steer, perhaps cross-step, shifting weight while still keeping balance. Your brain has to make choices, and learn from mistakes. Muscles develop, and your strategies change.

This is the kind of thing you typically start to learn at 10 months or so, like our young buddy Rowan. Your butt is a full 12 inches from the ground, heavily padded by flesh and diaper and mistakes don’t cost much. And obviously, your legs grow strong as you wander more. It all fits together in a developmental ballet.

This is why many of Jon’s problems are referred to as “developmental delay”. Much of what he can’t or doesn’t do may be because of a lack of opportunity, due to low vision or other physical impediments that don’t allow him to take advantage of a relevant situation.

We’ll see how it goes. Yesterday evening, he proudly stood at the outdoor glass table and then reached forward to crank open the table umbrella. He’d never had that opportunity before. Developmental blocks shift and build. We’ll see how it will affect his footwork, his leg muscles, his hips, his posture…and his inquisitiveness…as we go.