Water Therapy

Yesterday Samantha started water therapy. For 10 weeks, she'll be in the pool every Tuesday at noon. She loved it. Samantha loves water, so I wasn't too concerned about that. Unfortunately, the little boy she has therapy with wasn't so thrilled about the water at first. But he warmed up to it and started smiling before long. The water is very warm and cozy. I didn't go in the pool, but I may in the future. We'll see how I feel about getting in a suit. Leanne, her water therapist, is working on the same thing that her physical therapist is working on -- on land. Trunk strength and flexibility. Sammy has abs of steel. We all know that. But her core is almost too strong as it dominates every movement. Because of that, she doesn't have much back strength and she doesn't allow herself to rotate from side to side. If she wants to see something, she moves her entire body instead of being able to just twist. So, they are working on that.


The water has a natural calming affect which allows the body to relax a bit. The added buoyancy also helps when making movement. People can easily correct a movement without falling or stumbling as much.

One thing that Samantha is in constant need of is bodily input. That is one reason she is always bouncing, jumping, and loving hard, physical play. That also explains why she can't keep things out of her mouth. She's in constant need of oral input. So the wrestling, the chewing on everything -- not only is that fun for her, but it's what she needs. I don't quite understand it yet, but every therapist we've met and worked with has discussed that with me. Water gives her that constant input on her body -- and all over her body, which is possibly one reason she loves it.


Leanne said the session went really well -- that she saw big improvements from the beginning of the session to the end. Meaning: When Leanne began putting Sammy in certain positions, she would fight it at first. By the end of the hour, Samantha was responding immediately the positions, as she should. Yeah! Water therapy has been known to have dramatic results, while, of course, some take much longer to respond. Hopefully this will be a therapy Sammy continues to enjoy and that will help her in her progress.