A Hard Days Work

Over the years I have been a "Soccer mom",  I have been a "Ballet Mom",  I have even been an "Equestrian Mom".  However, the label that was most fitting over the past couple of years would be "Therapy Mom".   Aziza likely received more therapies than the average child with Down Syndrome.  Because she also qualified for services under the Autism programming, and because we also hired additional private therapists, therapy was like a full time event in our lives.  At one point Aziza was in school all day and also had about 5 different therapy sessions a week outside of school. 

Aziza's therapies included Feeding Therapy, ABA Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Music Therapy and Behaviour Therapy. Aziza also spent a year attending a special needs preschool which gave her daily access to many therapies.

Early on, Aziza was very resistant to therapy.  She did not understand what the expectations were and it took a while for her to realize that she would be rewarded for active participation (ie/access to a favorite toy).  In the beginning Aziza's avoidance strategy was to lay her head down and put her thumb in her mouth and pretend that the therapist did not exist.  I cannot even tell you how many therapy sessions and preschool mornings were spent like this early on.

Eventually as a team we all figured out what was going to work for Aziza and Aziza herself realized that therapy is set up to be somewhat fun.  The resistance for the most part stopped (but not entirely ... the Princess did like to dictate how and when she would do something).  In more recent days, Aziza would be so eager to "play" with her therapists that it was difficult to get her to stay in the waiting area - she prefered to just head back to find them herself.

 

The video that I am including is a year and a half old.  In June 2011, Aziza had come incredibly far in therapy.  When she started she did not have the skills or interest to play with any of the toys at the therapy centre and she was very unsteady on her feet.  But to look back on this video NOW, it is unbelieveable how far she had come in the 18 months since this was recorded.  She was no longer wobbly and unsteady on her feet, and had started jumping and attempting to run.  She was working on throwing a ball through the hoop from a greater distance.  She was playing with more complex toys that did not sing or light up.  But for us, at the time in 2011, these small steps were huge achievements.  A very big deal in the video is when Aziza is placing large spining bugs onto a disk.  In the beginning she had no idea how to play with this toy.  By June 2011, the therapist is deliberately handing the bugs to her upside down.  Aziza was able to recognize that the bug was upside down, turn it around, place it on the disk and make sure it was standing correctly.  In June 2011 this was HUGE.

 

This video shows only a couple of her therapists ... but she had many many more.  Every single one of these women offered my Warrior Princess love along with therapy.  They knew that she had missed out on a lot and they were dedicated to help her catch up.  They were patient with her stubborn streak and laughed at her silly antics.

Samantha is seen in these videos as well, working alongside Aziza's therapist and learning strategies from her.  It was important to include Samantha occasionally so she could understand why I was working with Aziza in a very specific way at home (ie/ why I did not want Samantha doing things FOR Aziza all the time).

The therapist seen in much of this video (wearing a pink t-shirt) came to play a very unexpected role for our family as she participated in delivering one of the readings during Aziza's funeral.  Looking back at this video, none of us would have expected this young woman to have to change roles overnight and be a part of laying my Sweet Aziza to  rest instead of guiding her though one of her weekly sessions. In addition, Aziza's beloved music therapist played the piano accompaniment while Aziza's Kindergarten teacher sang during the funeral service on December 12th.  These beautiful souls offered everything they had to Aziza, all the way up until the final good-bye.   As I mentioned, Aziza received more than just therapy - she received a whole lot of love along with it.  We were very fortunate.

Aziza in therapy, June 2011.  If you cannot see the video please click HERE:

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