We have had a few interesting things happen lately. Last week Ty and I had a meeting with Leah’s daycare. Typically they move kids out of the infant room and into the toddler room around 16 months. With Leah they don’t see her having the mobility to move up yet. While we agree, it was a difficult thing to hear. My biggest concern is that she’ll get more proficient with her wheels and they will still hold her back because of their concern about her being in a chair. This week one of her teachers in the infant room asked what else they can do with her to keep her busy and engaged, so clearly she needs more stimulation. She also needs to be with her peers and keeping her with the infants doesn’t help with language or social skill. We agreed to reevaluate her in 2 months, at which point I hope she will be totally proficient with her wheels and can easily move to the toddler room. If not, then I think we need to look into another place that is more accommodating to children in wheelchairs. I hope it doesn’t come to that.
Earlier this week we got her test wheelchair. This is a standard chair, unlike her zip-zac, and we’ll have it for a few days to test it and see how we like it. She sits up much higher in this chair and it’s a lot bulkier than the zip-zac. It has the ability to expand and grow with her so she’ll have this chair until she’s about 5 years old. The other nice feature is that it has a handle so we can help steer her. The first thing I noticed when it came in the house was how dirty it got. The delivery guy rolled it through the garage and brought in lots of dirt and snow into the house. As soon as she touched the wheels her hands got dirty and she was pointing at me to clean them off. This will be interesting! It’s also going to be harder for her to get in and out of this on her own, as she’s buckled in with shoulder straps and a seatbelt around her waist.
Seeing this chair made everything very real to us. Both Ty and I have said that confirms that she will be a wheeler… not that we ever really thought she would walk, but it’s hard to kind of ignore that thought when there isn’t a huge wheelchair sitting in the middle of the kitchen. It means that pretty soon she’ll be wheeling around independently at the grocery store and at church, and opens up a whole new world to us that we don’t have to deal with today. Things like people asking us why she’s in a chair, or worse, just staring at us…. Dealing with rude or ignorant people… Having others see the wheelchair and the disability before seeing Leah…. Or just pretending she doesn’t even exist. I told Ty that I allow myself 5 minutes of feeling sorry for her and myself each day, so there’s my allotment for the day!
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