For those that are close to us, you already know that our son Ben has Apraxia. Ben suffers from Verbal, Oral, and Limb Apraxia which, if I can sum this up in one sentence, means that he has trouble making the muscles in his mouth and limbs do what his brain is telling them to do. So he has developed much slower than his peers in speech, gross motor and fine motor function. Thanks to the Cherab Foundation (which helped us diagnose his condition) and fairly regular, semi-aggressive therapy, Ben is progressing very well, and we hope that by the time he is 10 years old, nobody will have trouble understanding him speak.
Ben just finished kindergarten and we wanted to continue a regular therapy regime. He is in summer school and getting one hour of speech and occupational therapy daily (M-F). He will be getting an hour and a half a week at school once the new school year begins. Holly has also started taking sign language classes with Ben weekly with an instructor in Charlottesville. This, we hope, will help Ben lessen some of his frustration at getting his message across when he can’t say the correct words. That still leaves physical therapy. We considered physical therapy at UVA but Ben is doing so well at jumping, balancing, and overall gross motor function. We attribute a lot of that to the 15′ trampoline in the backyard and Ben’s own social nature of wanting to do what all the other kids are doing. So instead of regular physical therapy, Holly really wanted to try hippotherapy.
Hippotherapy, as defined by the American Hippotherapy Association, is “a treatment that uses the multidimensional movement of the horse; from the Greek word “hippos” which means horse. Specially trained physical, occupational and speech therapists use this medical treatment for clients who have movement dysfunction.” They further describe some of the benefits: “Physically, hippotherapy can improve balance, posture, mobility and function. Hippotherapy may also affect psychological, cognitive, behavioral and communication functions for clients of all ages. Clients who may benefit from hippotherapy can have a variety of diagnoses: examples include Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Developmental Delay, Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, Autism and Learning or Language Disabilities.”
Holly found a person locally that provides hippotherapy services. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like Tricare, our health insurance provider, covers hippotherapy in this region (we may still submit a claim), but Ben has been going all summer none the less. I had the pleasure of accompanying Ben to Hidden Creek Farm in Ruckersville, VA, for his session today. Outside of the obvious beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background, it was really excited to see Ben doing so well in the therapy exercises and being completely comfortable on the horse. I’ve uploaded a video to Vimeo and some pictures to Flickr (see below).
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