needs: Switching OT for Taekwondo
We just had too many appointments. Its ‘we’ because her appointments were mine to book, travel to, prepare and pay for. At that stage she was well enough for school 4 days a week. 4 days less Wednesday morning when she had tutoring. That brings her back to 3 ½ school days. Minus the 2 OT sessions where she missed a couple of hours. She was so fried after OT she would often not go back to school. That leaves a total of 2 school days, and you could almost ensure there would be an incursion from the bank or Italian pizza day on one of them, which for a kid falling behind wasn’t really worth me washing a uniform and packing lunch for.
With all the signing-in late, or signing-out early, the woman in the office (they are always women) had gone from sympathetic (which I don’t really need) to judgement (which I really don’t need). My girl was struggling with learning difficulties and missed school made it impossible for her and frustrating for her teachers. Absence from school was also social quicksand for a girl who already missed the cues.
On Saturdays, we were having family Physio. It was all gym gear and laughter, but it was another appointment. Every practitioner brought their own view and their own homework to fit in. The family diet reverted to take out, and we were fractured. My boy was left behind, with others, and fell between the cracks and I really didn’t have the energy to talk to my beloved when he asked about my day. It was easier to say “fine”, than realise we were too tired to see it wasn’t.
The appointments, reviews and progress reports were good, bad and ugly. As a 5, 6, 7, 8-year-old she was well acquainted with “out of range” and the exercises targeted weakness, reinforcing (to her) that she was weak. Being a patient and being the Mum can be tough. It digs in and is a gateway to double chocolate caramel slice in sad waiting room cafés.
Somewhere in that merry go round I had coffee with the very best of friends; you know the one where you can say anything and she will make it ok. I got it all out, the way I felt about the appointments, the missed school, the woman in the office, the OT, the tutor, the Physio, the money, that I had to take her, the fact she had to go, what I was missing out on with my boy… I got it all out. And she said-
“Yeah, we dumped OT, you can’t go forever. Why don’t you try something instead?”
That’s where we were. Now, I look at her in her taekwondo gear, strong and fierce without a shred of fragility and him proud in his black belt. Somewhere along the way, we committed to taekwondo like therapy, and it became their haven, their self-esteem and their strength.
means: We switched physical therapy for sport.
First up- if your kid needs physical therapy, get the therapy by whatever means you can and hit it as hard as you can because there are gains there to be made, small, big and life changing gains.
Switching in sport and switching out physical therapy got my dude back in the classroom. Even if it was only for a weird incursion on the black cockatoo. It’s a day with their friends on a level playing field where they don’t have to wage the war against learning difficulties.
What sport? A sport or activity with:
- a peer group outside school.
- a uniform to belong.
- a system of recognition because school recognition can be scarce.
- something that works the brain, the left, the right brain and co-ordination.
- without a team so they can go at their own pace.
- something that makes them feel strong.
Why taekwondo is brilliant?
- TKD is excellent left right coordination and makes the brain work in a repetitive fashion.
- TKD is not divided by age and gender so there are role models and the kids can be a role model.
- TKD is after school.
- The cost of a term is equal to 2 sessions of any therapy that works on strength and coordination.
- TKD is about mental strength. The kind of resilience a special needs kid has built in.
- TKD works with the strength you have and builds on it.
- TKD uses words like integrity and commitment.
- TKD has a series of gradings that are worked towards and acknowledged in a grading.
- There are many opportunities to complete a grading and achieve.
Protip: The dude that teaches a kid to kick people in the head and how to run from a fight needs to be a gentle moon-face Mr Miyagi and not a “finish him” Cobra Kai dick.
Why Swimming is the best
- Swimming is weightless, low impact and injury free.
- Swimming has levels to work through.
- Swimming works on co-ordination and endurance.
- Being underwater encourages peace to the worried mind.
- Swimming is after school or on weekends.
- The cost of a term is equal to 2 sessions of any therapy that works on strength and coordination.
Protip: Public pools are awesome hubs of community, and germs- get thongs, have spares in your car.
Why bushwalking is the answer
- Bushwalking is a family activity that goes for as long or short as you need.
- Bushwalking is portable and pace-able.
- Bushwalking involves uneven surfaces to be navigated by the brain- proprioception gold mine.
- Bushwalking strengthens muscles and builds fitness.
- Bushwalking is outdoors, in nature which makes everyone feel better.
- Bushwalking is also discovery and imagination.
- Bushwalking allows for some parallel talks, and it never fails to bring up some kind of chatter I wouldn’t have other wise heard.
Protip: Geocaching (treasure hunting) is a good way to get and keep them going.
