World Down Syndrome Day 2017

 Trisomy 21, or Down Syndrome, occurs when an individual has 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. Therefore on 3/21 we celebrate everything that encompasses for individuals who walk this journey.  I was reflecting about where we have been the last four years and how its changed us and grown us and what its taught us about ourselves, our family and our world.  And I asked myself what does this really mean today?

On Therapeutic Riding

In addition to traveling one week out of each month for therapy, managing contractors, reviewing proposals, college students, home school students, music lessons, and real life in there... one more reason I haven't been posting here is that I have recently been asked to write and speak in several different venues about Addison's journey and some of the specialized therapies we have used to help him recover from his seizure disorder and overcome dysphagia. That hasn't left any "free" time for blogging. A few weeks ago I was asked to speak to the Impact Club on behalf of Addison and the therapeutic riding program. I have been wanting to post about this amazing type of therapy for some time and simply had no time to write so I am sharing my talk here today.

In 2013 when Addison was born we learned he had down syndrome. He was three weeks old when we met his physical therapist for the first time. We asked what things we should be thinking about long term to help Addison with his hypotonia. She recommended we put him on the waiting list for the riding program. I asked Trudy what we could gain from riding that Addison couldn't get from his regular physical therapy. I was surprised when she answered, "I don't know." She went on to tell us she didn't understand it but she has kids who can't make any progress with physical therapy but when they get on the horses it is like magic.