Maelee has been working on animal sounds for what seems like forever. But you always get a response of "baa", even if no talk of a sheep or "baa" has occurred in weeks. Maelee has a mild receptive-expressive language disorder that makes it hard for her to produce the words for the right thing, understand what we are asking, or to repeat common sounds such as animal sounds with the right animal....something we have gone over and over a million times it seems. Until yesterday!!!! She was standing with her OT next to Fritz (horses's name) and all the sudden she said "neigh". No one had said this, no one made any talk of animal sounds, she just came out with it!!! I was in complete awe, overjoyed, and I can tell you this Momma cried tears of joy the whole way home!!!
I was impressed at how well her new OT worked with her. Encouraged her to make the moves in her time, use her left hand when she was ready instead of forcing which only results in a complete meltdown and makes therapy pointless. Maelee was very stiff standing away from the horse, sitting and waiting, and while getting ready. The only point her body had increased stiffness in her tone during the time at the horse was when sweet Fritz attempted to kiss her.....she was not all for that and you could see her tone change in a second. Maelee loves kisses but I think his big mouth was a bit too much at this time!
After therapy is took 5 minutes to transition, which is actually not as long as normal but something we are working on. With sensory processing problems transitioning is something that is affected as well as she is a toddler who is determined to do things her own way always. :) While putting her in the car to go home my heart was warmed at how relaxed her muscles were, I didn't have to postition her all crazy to get her in the seat or to adjust her straps. She was in the seat, relaxed, and ready for a nap. (Remember muscle tone and relaxed at two different things, I can always feel an increase in her tone on the left side but after therapy she is easier to move around and you can tell she feels her body is more in her control than her CP's control.)
We are very excited to see how she does when she is old enough to do her therapy on the horse. I used to be worried we were doing too much for Maelee, too many therapies, too many appointments, but today I was reminded in the moment that we have done it all for a reason. Many think it's too much but if you witnessed what we have you would wonder what else is out there! Hippotherapy is something we are thankful for, so grateful for the recommendation to it, and are thrilled to watch her grow and develop using this amazing method and animal!
Lee came home from work yesterday and said something that truly warmed my heart, "We always worry about what Maelee will not be able to do; dance, sports, cheerleading, gymnastics, etc. We worry because her balance, tone, and CP may prevent her from enjoying these activities as well as physically being able to do them. But maybe her calling is horses. Maybe this will open a whole world for her. Maybe she will find a love for this, helping others, or just equestrian things in general. This could be why we were lead this way. We will just have to watch and see."
In that moment I realized he was so right! Maelee has been given this opportunity for many reasons and some reasons we may be unaware of at this time. We cannot wait to watch this new journey unfold and cheer her along the way!!!
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