Orthotics

We got to visit Jelena & Dr. Hotchkiss (or Doc Hotchick as Ryder pronounces it) again last week when we went to pick up Ryder’s orthotics!  He didn’t want to have anything to do with going back in the room, so we had his appointment in the waiting room!  LOL, I love people who are flexible and understanding when it comes to children.  None of the patients coming or going seemed to mind that there was a pantless little boy walking around with a bunch of adults staring at how he walked!  This is what his Orthotics look like:

They slip right inside of his shoe and help to position his feet correctly.  Surprisingly, when we slipped these little tiny inserts into his shoes, his legs straightened up quite a bit!  I was pretty impressed!  I was also surprised at how well he has adjusted to having them.  It definitely slowed him down for a few days as he figured out this new position of his feet, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit.  We’re going to try these for a few months and see if we need to take them up a little higher next time.  In case you’re wondering why exactly he needs Orthotics, I took a little video of his feet as he walks and stands, you can see in the video how his feet pronate, or turn in to where it seems like he’s standing on his ankles, of course it’s worse on the left side than the right.

And here two videos from therapy of Ryder’s first time learning how to go up and down steps on 2 feet.  This is especially hard for him because each side of the body has a different job.  One side has to balance while the other climbs and vice versa.  His PT Erin does such a good job assisting him and motivating him…love her!  One video is him trying this barefoot and the other with his boots & orthotics on.