CI, poor balance & kindergarden.. need a helmet??

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody!

Greetings from Ireland!

My Little Warrior Aidan is not that little anymore but sure he is a

fiery warrior, thrashing the place upside down!

Therefore the time has come, after 2.5 years, to take him to créche

(kindergarden) so he starts meeting other little people as high-handed

as him! LOL

Aidan can crawl now in all 4s and can walk as well standing up when

holding to something, but he's balance is still rather poor.. although

he sometimes seems to forget and gets too bold.. winding up on the

floor, of course.

So I was thinking in getting him a bike helmet or something like that

to wear at the créche, in case of (more than probable) bumping in the

head.. but Aidan has a cochlear implant and I'm not sure how will the

helmet fit or if it'll be suitable at all.

I'll ask the SALT who's treating his CI, but I thought, after all, who

knows more about CHARGE kids and their daily common stuff but you

guys? ;o)

So any experiences / suggestions?

Thank you!

[Guest guest]

I'm not familiar with helmets and CI's but at 's school they tried to get

her to wear a wrestling helmet - it was very soft and seemed comfortable.

Good luck!

Lori Myers

CI, poor balance & kindergarden.. need a helmet??

Hi everybody!

Greetings from Ireland!

My Little Warrior Aidan is not that little anymore but sure he is a

fiery warrior, thrashing the place upside down!

Therefore the time has come, after 2.5 years, to take him to créche

(kindergarden) so he starts meeting other little people as high-handed

as him! LOL

Aidan can crawl now in all 4s and can walk as well standing up when

holding to something, but he's balance is still rather poor.. although

he sometimes seems to forget and gets too bold.. winding up on the

floor, of course.

So I was thinking in getting him a bike helmet or something like that

to wear at the créche, in case of (more than probable) bumping in the

head.. but Aidan has a cochlear implant and I'm not sure how will the

helmet fit or if it'll be suitable at all.

I'll ask the SALT who's treating his CI, but I thought, after all, who

knows more about CHARGE kids and their daily common stuff but you

guys? ;o)

So any experiences / suggestions?

Thank you!

[Guest guest]

Almost like Lori said so i used to wear helmets when I was a toddle at that time

with CHARGER for three years and balance problem but never has CI before.

good luck,

michele s.

CI, poor balance & kindergarden.. need a helmet??

Hi everybody!

Greetings from Ireland!

My Little Warrior Aidan is not that little anymore but sure he is a

fiery warrior, thrashing the place upside down!

Therefore the time has come, after 2.5 years, to take him to créche

(kindergarden) so he starts meeting other little people as high-handed

as him! LOL

Aidan can crawl now in all 4s and can walk as well standing up when

holding to something, but he's balance is still rather poor.. although

he sometimes seems to forget and gets too bold.. winding up on the

floor, of course.

So I was thinking in getting him a bike helmet or something like that

to wear at the créche, in case of (more than probable) bumping in the

head.. but Aidan has a cochlear implant and I'm not sure how will the

helmet fit or if it'll be suitable at all.

I'll ask the SALT who's treating his CI, but I thought, after all, who

knows more about CHARGE kids and their daily common stuff but you

guys? ;o)

So any experiences / suggestions?

Thank you!

[Guest guest]

,

We've used a helmet for bike riding and skating and we've cut a hole where her

implant goes and hollowed out the foam a bit. This probably isn't giving her

full protection in that area but was the best we could come up with.

Also, with the helmet covering the microphone, I'm sure she's not picking up as

much sound, but again it's the best we've got for now.

MacKenzie has to be the queen of head injuries. She doesn't have alot of fear

and wants to try everything. We've been to the ER countless times for stitches,

hematomas and broken noses. Since she's become more aware of her abilities she's

been less accident prone. It's almost been more of a maturity thing, not

actually her becoming more competent. Hope you can find a good balance between

safety and just being a kid.

Jeanie Colp

mom to MacKenzie 9 CHARGE, Tyler 15 & Zachary 12

[Guest guest]

Yuka, I was just rolling with laughter - poor ! And poor ! She

was the same way. She started pre-school with a walker and was trached so

had a nurse or myself with her. So we had the portable suction and an

oxygen tank, plus trying to keep her hose to her trach from tangling in the

walker.you get the idea. Then she'd also let go of one hand on the walker

and she'd do the " startled lumberjack " look. That was what I called it -

that expression of " tipping; going over; what to do, what to do? " ! It was

at times pretty scary, but also comical!

Thanks for the memory and the laugh!

Friends in CHARGE,

Marilyn Ogan

Mom of (14, CHARGE+, JRA)

Mom of Ken (18, Aspergers)

Wife of Rick

oganm@...

Yuka wrote:

We discussed a helmet with the teacher several times, and each time we came

away with the conclusion that did not need another thing to manage.

His balance and his motor abilities were already so compromised, the idea of

putting a helmet on seemed additionally burdenful. As already had the

attendance of a full time health aide/sign language translator, the teacher

merely asked that person to be extra vigilant and mindful of standing in

places to not only optimize sign language absorption and communication, but

to also provide a soft landing or interim falling point for .

[Guest guest]

Ethan has a CI and poor balance. He uses a walker at school when traveling from

room to room so that helps with keeping his balance with giving him his

independence. He does like to walk alone too within the classroom, but someone

is always close by. He doesn't wear a helmet except to ride his bike. At

school, they got him a soft helmet. Maybe they cut a hole for where the CI is

on his head?

Jody - mom to Ethan (ChARGE) and

---------------------------------

Building a website is a piece of cake.

Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.

[Guest guest]

When started preschool (age 3) they wanted to give him a helmet

due to poor balance. Since his gait was alwyas just off, but he never

really fell, we chose to go with no helmet & be extra careful. School

I think was concerned about the steps and liablity of getting hurt at

school. also has a cochlear implant and it can be a challenge

keeping the implant on during hippotherapy when he wears the helmet

for 30 minutes (usually comes off at least once).

Barbara (mom to 6 1/2)

>

> Hi everybody!

> Greetings from Ireland!

>

> My Little Warrior Aidan is not that little anymore but sure he is a

> fiery warrior, thrashing the place upside down!

> Therefore the time has come, after 2.5 years, to take him to créche

> (kindergarden) so he starts meeting other little people as high-handed

> as him! LOL

>

> Aidan can crawl now in all 4s and can walk as well standing up when

> holding to something, but he's balance is still rather poor.. although

> he sometimes seems to forget and gets too bold.. winding up on the

> floor, of course.

> So I was thinking in getting him a bike helmet or something like that

> to wear at the créche, in case of (more than probable) bumping in the

> head.. but Aidan has a cochlear implant and I'm not sure how will the

> helmet fit or if it'll be suitable at all.

>

> I'll ask the SALT who's treating his CI, but I thought, after all, who

> knows more about CHARGE kids and their daily common stuff but you

> guys? ;o)

> So any experiences / suggestions?

>

> Thank you!

>

>

>