Almost two years ago when we were in Yerevan picking up Rex, we took him to some little playgrounds to break-up our days. We could tell right away that Rex had no experience with playgrounds and not the slightest idea what to do. He could not climb up, down, or onto any of the features. He didn't know how to walk on grass. He was scared to slide, even with help.
 |
| June 2013 |
Forward about nine months from that time and it was Rex's first spring home. He had come such a long way in his gross motor development and sensory integration. He had learned to love swinging with help, but still was unsure about anything else on the playground. Even his IEP included a goal of learning to navigate a playground independently. We spent quite a bit of time last spring trying to teach Rex how to climb playground stairs and ladders, how to slide, how to turn steering wheels, and so on. Craig and I also always had to circle any play structures like hawks because Rex seemed to have no sense of height. He was utterly unaware that he was up higher than the ground and would step beyond an edge to fall in a split second. We really questioned if his depth perception was impaired.
 |
Look at the confidence
he has this year |
Because Rex started preschool in the fall, I hadn't really seen him on a playground in a long time. So, yesterday I was very surprised by his progress. We were visiting Craig's mom at a campground and walking around when Rex spotted the play structure. He indicated right away that he wanted to use it, so, of course, we went. When Rex entered the playground, his first order of business was to circle the structure to find the way up. When he saw it, he immediately started to climb, unassisted. He had a choice of three slides and quickly picked a favorite. He crossed the hanging bridge, positioned himself to slide and down he came. He must have repeated this course a few dozen times, sometimes adding in a stop to turn the steering wheels or wanting a go on the teeter-totter which, by the way, he could mount/dismount unassisted and knew how to hold on and use with a partner on the other end.
After about 30 minutes of doing his little laps (on a less than exciting play structure, I might add), Rex decided that he wanted to use the hanging ladder. His grandma and I watched closely. He stopped, he looked down, he stepped back. He tried again. He knew he was up high and he recognized that he could not or did not want to face this ladder alone. So, Rex came down the slide, took his grandma by the hand and led her over to stand by the ladder. Then he went his familiar route across the play structure again, stopping at the ladder and accepting help from grandma to try his hands and feet at getting down.
Any and all of this may seem so minor to others, but for Rex these skills were two years in the making. All of his senses had to develop and work in concord to allow him to play in this setting like most other children. There are, of course, still new things to learn, like pumping a big boy swing on his own and handling rope-type ladders without assistance. But, Rex can now independently navigate a playground and he loves it. I am so proud of how far he has come.
