Doctor's Note and Skiing

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I got my daughter, Nora's doctor (Physical Medicine doctor at the

University of Michigan Hospital) to write a letter so Nora wouldn't have

to take the required Physical Fitness class. Nora is nearly 18 with

CMT. I called the school and then talked with the teacher of the class.

She confirmed that the class was physically intense and suggested that

they had an " adapted " class that Nora could take. I didn't even bother

to mention that to my daughter. ;-) As I recall the letter simply

stated that Nora had CMT and that she was not able to do the regular

stuff. (If I remember I will try to find the letter.)

As for the skiing, when Nora was about 6 or 7, we had her take ice

skating (this was before we knew she had CMT). She simply couldn't do

it. All the other little kids were whizzing back and forth and Nora was

struggling just to keep upright. Needless to say, we let her drop out

of the class. Once we got her diagnosis (at age 12), her inability to

ice skate made sense. She did eventually learn to ride a bike, although

she is not keen on it. Some kids are more adventurous, while Nora has

always been somewhat hesitant with physical activities. She does ride

horses and is quite good at that, although still hesitant until she

feels confident about whatever it is. For her, the right instructor has

been just critical.

Nora will be going off to college this fall and of course, I worry. But

I know she will deal with it. She doesn't share the fact that she has

CMT with most people. I suppose this will change some as she gets

older.