DAFO

One problem that Samantha faces because of her condition is tense muscles. She is always holding her muscles really tight. We have been working with her physical and occupational therapist on this since she was born, and she has come a long way. But she still tends to stand on her toes. To fix that, Samantha was fitted for a pair of orthopedic braces, called DAFOs, which she wears about 2 hours a day (at least for now). Already I have seen improvement in her stability while she stands. These force her feet flat down. Now, here's the trick -- she needs to wear them with shoes. In order to find a pair of shoes that fit over the DAFOs, we had to get her a size 6.5 shoe! We think she looks sooo darling when she's doing her excersizes in these. What a doll. The first picture is of her in her gear. In the second, she pulled herself up to standing and was actually standing flat foot -- both feet flat foot! -- while "playing the piano." Yippee!