Max absolutely loves being in water so much, my husband and I have joked about buying him a water bed. So he’s in heaven when he’s in the pool. Bonus: the pool toys give him all sorts of opportunities to work his fine-motor skills. As demonstrated here!
Max has been getting physical and occupational therapy since he was a month old. He had a stroke at birth, so we knew he was at risk for all sorts of problems, and I got him into Early Intervention right away (I literally called them from the NICU). While he may sometimes get distracted during speech, occupational or physical therapy, for the most part he considers them a normal part of his life.
But sometimes, as I’m sure you’ve realized, the best therapy happens when kids are playing. In the bath, Max manipulates a watering can, colors on the wall with bath paints and makes pictures with shaving cream. In the pool, he grasps and throws a ball, pours water from buckets, kicks around and works hard on balancing.
I have to admit, it’s therapeutic for me, too, to see him enjoying himself so much. When Max is happy, the angst I sometimes have from being a parent of a kid with special needs seems to just trickle away.
Ellen blogs daily over at To The Max.