Clay's new physical therapist, Erica (who we LOVE), recommended that Clay get fitted for ankle braces. His low tone combined with pronating (rolling in of the feet and ankles) makes him feel less stable when he stands, therefore making wanting to take independent steps a scary thing for him.
There are two places in Omaha that specialize in these braces so we made and appointment and got him fitted. It was easy and simple; they just measured all around his feet and ankles and told us they would arrive in a few weeks.
When they came in, I took Clay back in to make sure they fit him right, etc. Clay has super tiny feet; he wears an infant size 3, which is normally a 6-12 month shoe. This is where we ran into some issues. The braces add quite a bit of bulk to the width of his foot so none of the shoes we had would fit over the brace. I hit the stores and tried on like 500 million different pairs of shoes on him and NONE of them fit over the brace without me going up to a size 5, which were huge boats on his feet. We came home empty handed.
I asked several moms from my Down syndrome group and they had some great suggestions. Either a basic, lace up shoe like Converse or a "skater" type shoe that tend to run wide. It already takes me 3 hours to get everyone's shoes and coats on around here so a lace up did not sound too appealing. We set out to find a "skater" shoe that came in a small enough size and found them at our 3rd store - Walmart!! I hate Walmart...but I am loving them right now for ending this crazy search.
These shoes are adorable and fit over the braces great. I did size up to a size 4 but they seem to fit him well. I sewed on some additional velcro to the ends and they are perfect!
Clay doesn't seem to mind them one bit and does seem less wobbly in the ankles when he has them on!
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| You can barely see the braces and they blend in well with his socks |
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| Extra velcro sewed on |
Not only does he have these awesome new braces BUT check out this walker Erika (the PT) brought over!!!! The traditional walkers that you push out in front of you are so fast for Clay and when he is able to keep up, he walks hunched over, with his arms out straight in front of him. This is not teaching proper walking form. He does great with his new wheels and is SOOO proud of himself!
Disclaimer - he has slippery jammies on in this video and had just got his new walker!
It is hard to get a good video because he is so fast but here is a little something....
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