Cassie's Favorite Activity riding at TEAD

MISSION STATEMENT:

“T.E.A.D. is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities through a unique form of proven therapy with the use of horses”

Since its inception in 1978, T.E.A.D. has provided thousands of individuals young and old with a different approach to their situation. Located in the rolling pastures of Mount Hope, T.E.A.D. is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities through equestrian therapy, a proven method in dealing with the challenges presented to them by their disabilities. We endeavour to fulfill our mission statement with honesty, integrity, and accountability, with which the professionalism and compassion of staff, instructors and volunteers empower our riders with disabilities to a level of riding that earns the respect of all involved at T.E.A.D.

Cassie riding her favorite horse Robin. Born in 1986 he is 23 years old. He is a Paint that stands 15.2 hands high. He has been a therapy horse since 2003 at TEAD and Cassie has ridden him for four years now.
One of the best parts about TEAD is the children make lasting friendships with other children with disabilities. Above is Katie, Ashyln and Cassie stretching their legs before the ride.

---

Cassie with her riding instructor Pat Bullock and her three best friends at TEAD. Pat is an awesome instuctor who knows Cassie really well. Cassie has progressed this year to no side walker and time with no leader where she steers the horse herself as well as trotting and posting. All thanks to the dedication and hard work of Pat. Thanks for your time, expertise and patience with with Cassie.

I wrote this and read it at TEAD's Riding Forward Tours because we whole heartedly beleive in this program and want it to continue to operate as it is our daughters absolute favorite form of therapy.

Our daughter Cassandra developed a brain injury in utero. The right side of her brain was severely damaged. She was born with hydrocephalus a condition where cerebral spinal fluid builds up in the brain. She had numerous brain surgeries as a baby to place a shunt in her brain and drain fluid. She developed lots of life threatening complications and had numerous shunt surgeries. We were told right from the start that she was high risk for cerebral palsy and seizures. Cassie did not sit up at six months and never learned to crawl. Walking took years of rehabilitation with physiotherapy, orthotics, walkers and gait training. When she was very young we heard about TEAD. We filled out the paperwork and had her on the list to ride as soon as she was old enough.

TEAD is a special organization that values children and treats them all with dignity. Cassie has been riding for 5 ½ years now. The TEAD organization has helped her gain pride, self-esteem and confidence. The instructors know each child’s special needs emphasizing their strengths. Cassie loves the instructors so much that each week she runs to hug them. Her favorite horses are Champion and Robin. She is able to talk to the horse. She uses her voice to make these large animals follow her directions. It empowers her and gives her confidence. She has made friends with volunteers who she realizes are special helpers there to help her and make the riding session fun. She has made lasting friendships with other little girls who ride in her club. They all have health problems or disabilities and she is able to talk to them and they socialize and it makes her feel special to have these friends. Sometimes Cassie has had to face hard questions from children at school. The ask her why she walks funny or wears big leg braces or they ask her why she cant climb on play equipment or run fast. She has developed a nice way of talking about her strengths and often tells these children “But I ride horses really well”. She has taken videos of her riding to school for show and tell and the children were so impressed and she felt like a star! She loves the club so much she asked to have her sixth birthday in the clubhouse. She took her friends from school on a tour of the barn. They were so impressed and she was able to confidently tell them all about the program and what it means to her. Sometimes children with a physical disability have trouble doing sports or fitting in with their peers. TEAD has given our daughter confidence and helped her social skills.

Cassie has had to work hard over the years doing physiotherapy. TEAD is a fun way for her to do therapy. It involves using her mind to follow directions and keeping the horse moving which in turn helps retrain her injured brain. It also involves using her weak hand to hold the reigns and lead the horse. She uses her weak legs to walk-on trot and turn. It is full bodywork out for one hour each week. She comes off the horse tired and pleasantly exhilarated. She feels at home in this club and she loves the staff and the horses and other children. Cassie cant wait for this July when she will attend a full week in summer camp and we cant wait to see the things she learns and we really thank the club for helping Cassie live her dreams and build her confidence.

Support this wonderful club. They always need volunteers and it is one of the special places in the world!!

Mother's Day

Although I had to work a shift at the hospital, my mother's day was really nice. The girls made breakfast in bed and then said they were hungry and proceeded to eat my eggs! Nothing better than sharing breakfast in bed. Julia being a preteen said she started a card but did not finish it. (So teenagerish). Cassie had lots of homemade cards she was proud to give. The girls sang to the mother's at church and because I missed it Chris brought them to St Joe's and gave me a flower. It was nice to show the girls off to my work colleagues. Chris and the girls spent the afternoon with Oma. I felt bad all weekend that I could not drive to Dunnville to visit my mom. I called her twice and when I arrived home from work we were eating supper and my MOM walked in. What a great way to end the day. I love being a mother and I realize that my girls are growing up quickly!!

Getting Ready for Round Two of Botox

Cassie at McMaster Children's Hospital 2Q Clinic coming for an appointment to meet Tara her Child Life Worker.

The Botox appointment was moved to June 8, 2009 which was fine with me as it gives Cassie a little bit more preparation time with her child life worker Tara

The plan is to receive 4 needles (300 units). The muscles that will be injected are the gastrocs, add. hall, add. poll, pronator meres. I am not sure if I have the names exactly right but I am going to get an anatomy book and look them up. I am worried about the lack of physiotherapy available after the June 8 injections. Cassie's therapist at the after school clinic went off on maternity leave and one of the cost containment measures at CDRP was to not replace the therapist. This was one of the most valuable physiotherapy clinics Cassie ever participated in and I am extremely disappointed to not have access to it. Although it was only one hour a week it was the best program for Cassie. She loved working in the gym with the other children. She was motivated and loved the program. I wrote a letter asking them to reconsider but have not heard anything. I decided on my own to try to learn the muscles being injected with Botox and then I will ask the therapist to show me some exercises that will help these muscles strengthen. Cassie already has exercise equipment in our basement. I may try to find a physio student or a kinesology student and see if they wan to work on some of our home exercise programs with a very cute little girl.Cassie took Sarah doll in to see Tara today. They started an IV and gave Sarah blue and green sleepy medicine. Cassie has walked through the entire procedure of having an IV start. We have come up with lots of strategies for the big day. Here are the few most important ones.
1. Ativan the night before to help her sleep
2. Ativan the morning of the appointment
3. Don't mention the appointment until we head out in the car.
4. Emla patch on 45 minutes before the poke.
5. Bring Walkman with Hannah Montana Music for a listening distraction
6. Sit on Mommy's lap during the IV start with Tara "Safe person in the hospital standing by to tell the nurses all Cassie's strategies.
7. Look away during the poke. Mommy to do the imagery breathing techniques learned with Cassie.
8. Mommy has a special never before heard story as a distraction during the rough periods.
9. Next visit to hospital Tara to take Cassie to the clinic room to look around
10. Cassie to have access to her own special girl band aids.
11. Wake up time. Nice drink and TV to watch with roommate.
12. Internist will consider need for oral Medazolam that helps erase memory but this may not be necessary this time we will see.

Stay tuned to see how the strategies empowered Cassie and help to decrease her fears and assist her to deal with a painful sensation. I am confident the plan will make things easier on her.

School System Resource Meeting

The Focus for me this month has been How to Help Cassie Succeed at School. Therefore I have not had too much time for the Blog.
I am very pleased to report the school meeting went extremely well. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Cassie's academic progress and implement measures to ensure her success. The Principal Catherine Youngblud is really terrific and knows so much about how to ensure success at school. She understands the complex issues involved with Cassie and knows how to navigate well through the education system. Cassie's OT Joanne Doherty attended as well as Mr. Moase (teacher), Mrs. McIntosh(EA), Mrs. Holloway (Resource teacher) and myself. Joanne recommended Cassie use assistive technology. Her fine motor is weak in printing and cutting although she has made improvements. A computer should be Incorporated into her program. The teachers had samples of Cassie's printing and the OT felt the legibility was good. The printing takes allot of time for Cassie and slows her down somewhat. It was recommended that Cassie use her programs Clicker 5 a few times a week in the computer lab. The Clicker 5 program is board approved and helps children write independently? The EA's will no longer be scribing for Cassie.

Clicker is a writing-support tool for any subject area.The program helps a child build sentences by selecting words, phrases and pictures. Cassie finds it useful to hear words spoken by realistic software speech before she writes and Cassie can hear completed sentences spoken back to her. The program is powerful, versatile and easy to use. I love it because it is supported by hundreds of free teaching resources at LearningGrids.com!

Here is a little bit more about the tool!!

The Clicker 5 Guide

1. What is Clicker?

Clicker is a writing support and multimedia tool for children of all abilities.

At the top of the screen is a word processor called ‘Clicker Writer’.

At the bottom of the screen is the ‘Clicker Grid’.

This has ‘cells’ containing letters, words or phrases that you can click on, to send them into Clicker Writer – so children can write sentences without actually writing or using the keyboard! This is a very good program for a little girl with memory problems and complex learning difficulties.

Funding continues to be a big problem for schools in the area of computer availability in classrooms. I was surprised to hear Cassie's classroom has no computer or outlets available for computer hook up. What a shame but funding money is allocated carefully by the principal and Fessenden is an old school.

Cassie has been supported by her OT Julia Lockhart at CDRP and has worked hard to learn to type. Julia made Cassie a color coded one handed typing program. We notice when Cassie tries to type two handed the weak left hand slows her down and her concentration comes off her sentence building to concentrate on getting the weak hand to type. I am pleased about the easier one handed typing and allowing Cassie freedom to work on her school work. When Cassie reaches a certain skill level then Julia will apply for funding for a lap top for Cassie. This will be so helpful for ensuring success in her school life!! I can't wait actually to have access to her own laptop that I can fill full of tools she needs to be independent. Cassie may have some weaker skills in grade 2 but already she is developing some awesome skills that other grade 2 children don't have. I think being a strong key boarder will certainly assist her academically.

A Few other terrific ideas came out of the meeting. Everyone agreed how hard Cassie works. Although she is not at a grade 2 level on her IEP she is continually making progress. Cassie's math is improving. She does well with a number line. She is beginning to pick up regrouping. Cassie is at a DRA level of 2B. She requires consistency to be successful. Catherine suggested she try some taped books from the library. The main points that I loved from Catherine were: Cassie needs to be a risk taker, try to empower her, independence and initiative are very important and keeping the school experience positive. It was recommended that Cassie be in a split 2/3 class next year so she has more time to keep working at a grade 2 level if she needs. I love these strategies and I am so excited to see Cassie's progress!!I recommend to parents to attend meetings. The brain storming is invaluable. The expertise of each part of the school team coming together for ideas will surely help ensure Cassie makes academic progress. I had a list of ten issues on a paper I wanted to address and interestingly I never brought any of them up because they were all addressed in the meeting with out me initiating the topic. I was very pleased with the outcome and am working with Cassie a lot at home to reinforce what is being worked on at school.
Thanks to the Fessenden team you are invaluable and we appreciate the extra efforts for our girl!