One, two, three… JUMP!

When Lucy first started coming to Occupational Therapy she wanted to play- there were many new toys, so much to explore in the therapy room and she found it hard work doing the activities I asked her to do. However, as the days passed we got to know each other. Lucy has so much personality, so much fun inside of her and so much desire to love and be loved. She started to enjoy the challenges set for her, and worked hard to receive praise at the end of a great session.

One of the goals I set for Lucy when we started to work together was for her to be able to jump three times without any help. This initially seemed a mammoth task- her best attempts at jumps were more lopsided gallops, and often ended in her landing in a pile on the floor in a fit of giggles! But together we have persevered- we have worked on balance and strength, giving her the support from her pelvis to enable her legs to co-ordinate themselves into a jump. We have practiced jumping regularly and rejoiced together at the fast progress she has made with this practice; Lucy’s face the first time she jumped when holding my hands was amazing and beautiful- a picture of pride, joy and self-confidence.

As the weeks have continued, Lucy has made further progress on an almost daily basis. We have been working on jumping down small steps holding hands. As always, we have a routine- together, in Chinese we say ‘one, two, three… JUMP’. On ‘jump’, Lucy will bend her legs, her knees and leans forwards (occasionally the difference between this and a Chinese squat is negligible!) but she will then rise with a leap and land on the next step, a huge smile spreading over her face and a round of applause ready for herself. Today, for the first time, Lucy jumped down the steps just holding one hand… what a wonderful achievement for a girl who 6 weeks ago could not jump at all! Well done Miss Lucy!

Although jumping to me an you may seem a small, irrelevant achievement, to sweet Lucy it is one of the most significant things in her little world. It is such a privilege to be able to help the kids at New Day achieve their goals, and witnessing their joy following the hard work and struggles brings unimaginable satisfaction; thank-you Lucy.

 

---
This post was written by our Occupational Therapist, Jenny