Helping out

Angela is 14. She's had a stroke...or two..we don't really know. Since she was about 7 months old she has shown the effects of these neurological events as weakness to her entire left side. The only time it's really noticeable to me is 1) when she's swimming. She doesn't kick her left leg or use her left are very well, and her range of motion isn't very good on that side and 2) when trying to teach her to do fine motor tasks, like zipping her coat or doing buttons and snaps.

I have tried for four years to teach her how to do these tasks. Several OT's (occupational therapists) have tried to teach her too. None of us have had any luck.

Enter Axel.

One day a couple weeks ago I spent...oh...7 minutes, and taught Axel how to zip. He was very proud of himself! Angela was a little jealous that Axel learned this skill and started trying to zip her jacket too. Gotta love what  little competition can do for a kid. She still wasn't able to do it, but the fact that she tried was nice, since getting her to try doing ANYTHING that's hard for her is like telling a fish to come hang out on shore with you. NOT HAPPENING!

This morning as we were getting ready to walk out the door, I sent Axel and Angela to get their stuff on. When I came back to the entry way, there was Axel, kneeling down in front of Angela, trying to help her zip her coat.

And he did it.

And they were BOTH very happy!