The End is Just the Beginning

Constraint Therapy II has ended. For 21 days, Miss Casey was a regular for breakfast and lunch. She pushed Jacob, challenged him, worked his muscles and his mind. He learned to say "eee" for eat, "sch" for chip, "hah" for hot, "tsh" for shhh, and "bpe bpe" for pee-pee during the last month. He learned how to get up on his knees and get down on all fours. He also learned how to get out of his cast... twice. Once the cast was off, he reverted to using his left hand. At his daycare's Open House yesterday, I watched him carry around a plastic cell phone in his left hand and as he walked by the toy kitchen, he slammed the microwave door closed with his right. He walked by the Elmo restaurant at home last night and slammed the refrigerator door shut with his right. Just as we noticed from the first round of constraint, the skills are never lost. They are retained but they are difficult to maintain. The brain knows and when he calls upon the skills that have been learned, they will be there for him. He has not yet learned to play with both hands together because he has never needed to. He adapts. He'll use his feet or his mouth. But as he grows and develops and desires to play with more challenging toys, his muscles will remember. I believe this. So my feelings are bittersweet right now. So happy constraint is over but so sad that Jacob's whirlwind of progress will not always be so apparent. So sad not to see Miss Casey on Monday morning... but it will be Jacob's first day of school.