AJ is a spunky, silly, and energetic two-year-old from Eau Claire, WI. AJ loves Elmo, music, and fire trucks. At 13 months, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy after a Physical Therapist observed his muscle tone changes and developmental delay. His family then amped up his therapy schedule to get him the care he needed and the support for the possible rebuilding of damaged neurological pathways.
AJ and his family have been working with Numotion from the beginning. AJ's first piece of equipment was a Rifton Pacer gait trainer. His therapist noticed he was moving like he wanted to walk and was ready for that motion to be explored. “The day he had a trial with the gait trainer, there was a light that went on and a sparkle in his eye. For the first time, he could be up with his friends at the same level and he could MOVE! Now that he has his gait trainer, he constantly looks up, saying ‘hi’ to strangers, blowing them kisses, pointing out ‘puppies’ and stopping for every sound,” said mom, Sandi.
Recently AJ received a Firefly Splashy bath chair and his mom said it’s incredible to see him playing in the bath and splashing with both hands. “He thought it was the best thing ever! Watching him grab toys with both hands and functionally play with them is a moment we never thought would happen…he is supported and can take a ‘normal’ bath now,” said Sandi.
“Every time we see (Numotion ATP) Brendan, it’s a great day. Brendan and AJ light up when they see each other and he always makes sure AJ and I know how to use the equipment when delivering and setting us up. We could not love Numotion more from the help with the ordering process to the attention when trying or getting new equipment, we won’t settle for anyone else,” said Sandi.
Maintaining AJ’s development is essential. During COVID-19 AJ’s family, team of therapists and Numotion are ensuring he has the equipment and exercises he needs to not miss a beat. “Numotion delivered his Splashy during quarantine and is still working on getting us some stander trials to test. We appreciate the continuous work to aid our mobility during this tough time,” said Sandi.
Sandi said because of quarantine their routine has slowed down but AJ’s progress has not. “We celebrate every time he learns something new, says more words together, or climbs up on a new object. His personality is showing that of a comedian and he sure does like to laugh. We could not be more proud of his development and how far he has come. No one has told us he ‘isn’t going to be able’ to do something…so, we keep trucking and cheering him on!”