Her PE teacher is awesome. She's constantly brainstorming ways to help Bella. She came up with some time outside of PE to trial a new skill that might present challenges. Bella never really mentioned it to me outside of our initially 504 meeting last year. Her teacher would say that it was working out well and that it was useful.
When we met, I figured out just how useful that time was for both of them. They could talk then make changes or brainstorm together. Hearing straight from the teacher how it worked for them was great. It made me realize just how hard she is working on Bella's behalf. I could tell that she had already thought about some ways to help her for this coming year.
We talked about her current prosthetic and the fit. This could present some challenges for weight bearing on her hands at the start of this year. She suggested manipulating the scheduling of testing off for Bella so that she could be successful in the skills. This may mean that we have to wait for her new prosthetic for her test off. One example is push-ups. She can't really weight bear safely on her left "hand" for push ups. The prosthetic ensures that the wrist on her left hand is safe, it also ensures that she has a stable surface. The "mushroom" attachment provides the stable surface. For you or I, we have two hands with fingers to keep us stable.
We talked a lot about how Bella had changed last year. Her teacher felt her prosthetic made a big difference in her mindset. She worked hard to figure out a way to make things work. She was quick to put on her prosthetic at appropriate times, sometimes she would have a friend help. She talked about the skills that she utilized the prosthetic for. From hockey, to jump rope, the tumbling... the list is extensive. It allowed her to have the same opportunities as her peers! It's all about leveling the playing field and making things EQUAL.
She will never have two typical functioning hands. For us and for her, she shouldn't be excluded due to her limb difference. She should be able to do all of the things the other kids are doing, limb difference or not! She ties her shoes, fixes her own ponytails and does so many things in a way that's different from me but it works for HER. My job as her mama is to advocate for her to ensure that she is getting those equal opportunities. I'm happy to report that her PE teacher is also ensuring that she has equal opportunities as well.
My eyes welled up with tears when she talked about the difference she has seen in Bella since she got her prosthetic. Does she use it every day for every task? No... it's really task specific. You can't use the mushroom attachment for holding pencils. It's specific to upper extremity weight bearing exercises. You can't use the other attachment for much that we've found. We've used it for bikes but it pinches her inner elbow. We've used cord keepers and that attachment for hockey, jump rope and a few other things.
(She has the one on the far left of the photo)
If you don't have a 504 for your limb difference child, I would recommend looking into one. It just puts some things into place that might help you keep your child safe and functioning at their full ability. We have her FULL 504 meeting in a little over a week. I'll update as we have the full plan in place in hopes that it can help another family.
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