Do not panic.

Admittedly, there was a bit of panic. Almost immediately upon learning about our daughter’s diagnosis, I felt a lot like the exasperated Mom in Temple Grandin’s movie (10/10 recommend if you haven’t seen). The scene where she’s doing flash cards on the steps with her was particularly relatable. It wasn’t until we had our evaluation with two wonderful occupational and physical therapists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), that we could breathe a bit easier. Their advice, more or less, was to play. Expose her to things. Get her to move in a lot of different ways. So we’ve dedicated this section to just that: playing, but with purpose and intentionality behind it. Helping our kidlet to become more physically and mentally fit, but doing so in a way that’s naturally incorporated in the act of playing and having fun. We learn so much every time, watching her in her weekly therapy sessions. If any kidlets can’t make it to therapy for any reason, hopefully there’s something here that helps.

Confession: we did get flash cards. But they ARE fun! I credit them for some of our girl’s first words and til this day, she still pulls them out excitedly, reciting each word.