Working closely with his mom, Megan, SOAR365 physical therapist Emily was able to help Aidan learn to crawl, cruise and walk independently.
When Aidan was born, he failed his newborn hearing screening and was diagnosed with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV). His mother quickly began reading everything she could on the illness and its impact on infants.
CMV is a mild, flu-like virus, but if contracted during pregnancy, it can affect the health of the baby. In Aidan’s case, it caused both moderate hearing loss in his right ear and low muscle tone throughout his body.
Luckily, Aidan’s mother found SOAR365’s Pediatric Therapy program.
“When I first started with Aidan, he was army crawling, and he preferred to use one side of his body,” explains Emily, Aidan’s physical therapist. “So, we really focused on symmetry of movements and using both sides of our body.”
With low muscle tone, “put simply your brain isn’t sending as strong of a signal to your muscles while at rest,” explains Emily “This makes a child seem more floppy than another kid with normal or increased muscle tone.”
For children with low tone, like Aidan, “it’s harder for them to figure out how to coordinate and activate their muscles simultaneously,” she continues. “They typically have to have a lot of repetition and help for those more complex skills such as walking.”
“It took us some time to get to crawling on our hands and knees, but once we got there, we quickly began pulling to stand, cruising – walking, even!”
Today, Aidan is an independent walker. “He’s moving and grooving around his environment,” says Emily. “He’s navigating things really well.”
Megan is so pleased with his progress – and his therapist. “Emily is fantastic! She’s really become a part of our family,” says Megan. “She’s very personable and very creative in how she works Aidan’s therapy into our routine. She even involves his big sister to help motivate him! I don’t know what we’d do without her.”
SOAR365’s Pediatric Therapy department is committed to meeting the needs of our community. That’s why we’re the largest provider of early intervention services in Central Virginia.
The number of Virginia infants and toddlers diagnosed with a developmental delay or disability is on the rise. It’s expected to grow from 20,202 in 2018 to over 40,000 by 2030*.
Early intervention is a federal program that offers pediatric therapy to children from birth to age three. Therapy sessions take place in the child’s home or familiar surroundings, where research shows children, like Aidan, learn most effectively.
The sooner children receive services, the better the outcomes. This year, we’ve grown to employ 20 therapists and early childhood educators.
To learn more about SOAR365’s Pediatric Therapy program, visit soar365.org.