Last month (June) we took our first family vacation. It was a great week on the beach filled with sun, sand, a pool and of course the OCEAN. Pictures of our trip can be found here (http://snipurl.com/myr0n). The greatest part of our vacation was that Benjamin was able to enjoy almost every minute of it (except for the part where Daddy put him too close to the ocean and he was hit by a wave). A couple of years ago this is another thing that would not have been possible.
Benjamin spent a vast majority of his time indoors in the first few years of his life. That, in addition to his disabilities, caused him great physical trauma when he would be outdoors. He would wince in sunlight and not even be able to open his eyes. He would gag or cry when the wind hit him in the face. Even sitting in the grass was uncomfortable.
Amazing as it is there is a therapy for this as well that works in concert with Benjamin's physical, occupational, eating and other therapies -- Sensory Integration (SI) Therapy.
SI therapists work on normalizing patients' physical reactions to touch and natural elements, help patients become better aware of their body in space, and help patients work on their ability to manage their bodies more appropriately. Using equipment such as swings, therapy balls, skin brushes and other sensory materials, SI therapy has been incorporated into Benjamin's occupational and physical therapy. On our vacation this allowed him to open his eyes (a little) in the sun, enjoy water rushing on his legs, be in the pool with Emily and feel the sand under is feet.
Seeing Benjamin enjoy our vacation is something we'll never forget.
0 comments:
Post a Comment