Thursday, May 14, 2009

Christy got to sleep in today to 9:00 am because there was no early Occupational Therapy session.  Her first session was Physical therapy with Jody.  Jody decided to take Christy down to the basement to do some work in the wellness center.  Remember that's the gym where Don runs and exercises.    Jody led Christy through some new types of exercises that will help with her balance and leg range of motion.  You can see Christy on the elliptical machine (picture on the right).  She rode it on speed one for 3 minutes.  Christy did a wonderful job!  This exercise is so beneficial to Chrsity because it targets her weak spots.  She is able to get more range of motion and stretch and extend her hips.  Her arms can bend and stretch while going through the movement with her legs.  It's a total body work out.   Jody also put her on the vertical bench machine to work her back muscles.  She worked her latisimus dorsi or "wings"  on another machine too.  Like a lateral pull down machine.  For OT Casey stretched and massaged the right shoulder blade out.   Don usually stays out of the room for speech therapy, so he won't be a distraction.  Today, Malea and Chrsity came out and showed him a picture where Chris had to connect the dots.  Melea said that this was the best that Chrsity has ever done on this exercise and her vision and coordination while using the pen is awesome!

After lunch Chrsity had a combo class with Casey and Melea.  This was a fun class because it was an opportunity to make Chocolate pudding!!  The therapist read the recipe to Chrsity and when they were done, she had to remember as much of the ingredients and instructions were.  The recipe said to mix two cups of milk with the pre-packaged powder mix.  The therapist asked Christy what she needed, and Christy replied:  

1. a bowl to mix the ingredients  

2. a mixing spoon  

3. a measuring cup  

Once she had all of her tools, they asked her to then pour out the milk and to mix it herself.  She did such a wonderful job at this complicated task!