Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Hi Kathy, When my son was in first grade he also did some " stimming " behaviors....at least that is what it looked like. It is related, as it turns out, to HEARING LOSS, fatigue and stress. His was also such that when you looked at him or asked him to stop he could. The developmental pediatrician said that because of this they were not " true " tics or " stimming " . When he is well rested, his hearing issues are addressed and he is not under stress he does not have this behaviors...whatever you want to call them. He is in horseback riding, therapeutic, for the first time this year. At the place we go he does an hour a week for six weeks and then there is a two week break. It has only been during this second six week period that I have been able to see any benefit: a higher verbal output, less fear of large animals and more confidence and better balance...........GREAT NEWS is he went six feet BALANCING on a scooter (both feet off the ground!). We are REALLY hoping that this will be the summer that he finally able to ride a two wheeler! I have to fill out LOADS of paperwork, applying every where I hear about for scholarships and funding in order to continue the horse riding as it is very expensive and we can't afford it on our very limited/low income. But finally seeing this progress encourages me to keep trying. Carol (mom to two great boys) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Carol, How exciting that you see improvement in your sons balance and self esteem due to horse back riding. My oldest daughter(8 1/2) had/has sensory issues and I found a stable that started the as young as five so we were driving her back and forth every week for two years so she could get in her riding time. It really did help with her sensory issues and improved her self esteem. I was just wondering if that would also help children with verbal apraxia? Have you heard anything on that? I don't know if I could afford two taking riding lesson's but I am interested if anyone has seen more verbal language results with having their child horse back ride. Liz in NH Holt <kcholt11@...> wrote: Hi Kathy, When my son was in first grade he also did some " stimming " behaviors....at least that is what it looked like. It is related, as it turns out, to HEARING LOSS, fatigue and stress. His was also such that when you looked at him or asked him to stop he could. The developmental pediatrician said that because of this they were not " true " tics or " stimming " . When he is well rested, his hearing issues are addressed and he is not under stress he does not have this behaviors...whatever you want to call them. He is in horseback riding, therapeutic, for the first time this year. At the place we go he does an hour a week for six weeks and then there is a two week break. It has only been during this second six week period that I have been able to see any benefit: a higher verbal output, less fear of large animals and more confidence and better balance...........GREAT NEWS is he went six feet BALANCING on a scooter (both feet off the ground!). We are REALLY hoping that this will be the summer that he finally able to ride a two wheeler! I have to fill out LOADS of paperwork, applying every where I hear about for scholarships and funding in order to continue the horse riding as it is very expensive and we can't afford it on our very limited/low income. But finally seeing this progress encourages me to keep trying. Carol (mom to two great boys) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 's been doing Hippotherapy (not horseback riding lessons, but actual therapy on a horse with a PT) for two years now and it has helped her verbally as well. Since it's common for children with Apraxia to also have Hypotonia increasing strength in their trunk as well as improved respiration both help speech. 's overtone and receptive language has improved as well. She used to flop back and forth on the horse when she started at age 2, now at age 4 she can ride upright, sideways, backwards, on her hands & knees, and even standing up (there is a picture of her standing up on a horse on the home page of my group..link inside my profile). Last Saturday they had her throwing the ball to them from the horse and she not only did that on command, she put her hands out to catch the ball when they threw it back. She hasn't been able to play catch before due to her limb Apraxia. So the benefits of Hippotherapy are worth it. Jill - Mom to age 4 > Carol, > > How exciting that you see improvement in your sons balance and self esteem due to horse back riding. My oldest daughter(8 1/2) had/has sensory issues and I found a stable that started the as young as five so we were driving her back and forth every week for two years so she could get in her riding time. It really did help with her sensory issues and improved her self esteem. > > I was just wondering if that would also help children with verbal apraxia? Have you heard anything on that? I don't know if I could afford two taking riding lesson's but I am interested if anyone has seen more verbal language results with having their child horse back ride. > > Liz in NH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 Liz - I'm not Carol but if you look up hippotherapy on the internet, an organization called NAHRA (whose name I cannot recall - only the initials!) has a lot of information on the types of conditions that benefit from hippotherapy and therapeutic riding. In fact, speech paths often recommend hippotherapy for kids with speech issues - I can't recall the connection but I've also seen amazing results - kids who couldn't say certain sounds or letters were saying them consistently after a few sessions on the horse with therapists working with the kid. I don't know if just " therapeutic riding " is the same - I don't think so as hippotherapists are specifically trained to work with PT, OT, SLP/SLT, etc. The NAHRA site can also hook you up with stables in your area (if any). Sherry E <zoknutie@...> wrote: Carol, How exciting that you see improvement in your sons balance and self esteem due to horse back riding. My oldest daughter(8 1/2) had/has sensory issues and I found a stable that started the as young as five so we were driving her back and forth every week for two years so she could get in her riding time. It really did help with her sensory issues and improved her self esteem. I was just wondering if that would also help children with verbal apraxia? Have you heard anything on that? I don't know if I could afford two taking riding lesson's but I am interested if anyone has seen more verbal language results with having their child horse back ride. Liz in NH Holt <kcholt11@...> wrote: Hi Kathy, When my son was in first grade he also did some " stimming " behaviors....at least that is what it looked like. It is related, as it turns out, to HEARING LOSS, fatigue and stress. His was also such that when you looked at him or asked him to stop he could. The developmental pediatrician said that because of this they were not " true " tics or " stimming " . When he is well rested, his hearing issues are addressed and he is not under stress he does not have this behaviors...whatever you want to call them. He is in horseback riding, therapeutic, for the first time this year. At the place we go he does an hour a week for six weeks and then there is a two week break. It has only been during this second six week period that I have been able to see any benefit: a higher verbal output, less fear of large animals and more confidence and better balance...........GREAT NEWS is he went six feet BALANCING on a scooter (both feet off the ground!). We are REALLY hoping that this will be the summer that he finally able to ride a two wheeler! I have to fill out LOADS of paperwork, applying every where I hear about for scholarships and funding in order to continue the horse riding as it is very expensive and we can't afford it on our very limited/low income. But finally seeing this progress encourages me to keep trying. Carol (mom to two great boys) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2004 Report Share Posted March 30, 2004 hi Carol, My son has some " stimming " issues as well. Its interesting what you said was the reason why your son does it. The doctor said that it was stress and fatigue? My son does do it more at the end of the day. I said to people he does because he's tired wow thanks for your post. Does your doctor tell you why the stress and fatigue cause your son to " stim " Why would the hearing loss cause him to " stim " . sorry for all the questions chris Holt <kcholt11@...> wrote: Hi Kathy, When my son was in first grade he also did some " stimming " behaviors....at least that is what it looked like. It is related, as it turns out, to HEARING LOSS, fatigue and stress. His was also such that when you looked at him or asked him to stop he could. The developmental pediatrician said that because of this they were not " true " tics or " stimming " . When he is well rested, his hearing issues are addressed and he is not under stress he does not have this behaviors...whatever you want to call them. He is in horseback riding, therapeutic, for the first time this year. At the place we go he does an hour a week for six weeks and then there is a two week break. It has only been during this second six week period that I have been able to see any benefit: a higher verbal output, less fear of large animals and more confidence and better balance...........GREAT NEWS is he went six feet BALANCING on a scooter (both feet off the ground!). We are REALLY hoping that this will be the summer that he finally able to ride a two wheeler! I have to fill out LOADS of paperwork, applying every where I hear about for scholarships and funding in order to continue the horse riding as it is very expensive and we can't afford it on our very limited/low income. But finally seeing this progress encourages me to keep trying. Carol (mom to two great boys) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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