Climbing for confidence

Four-year-old Asra-Lee isn’t the most comfortable mover, which is understandable given all she’s been through. So, when Satan’s Little Helper heard her story, we knew we had to help.

Asra-Lee has had to fight from the moment she was born.

“She was two months premature and spent her first month in neo-natal,” explains her mum, Stacey. “That’s when we discovered she had low muscle tone, which caused physical motor development delays.”

As a result, Asra-Lee couldn’t sit up until she was 18 months old, and was diagnosed with autism at two-and-a-half.

“She has sensory issues and delayed development with her speech. She wasn’t talkative and didn’t interact with many people,” says Stacey. “She’s been through a bit of a struggle!”

Trying to get to the bottom of it

The four-year-old recently underwent genetic testing to find the cause of her ailments. As her low muscle tone appears to be getting progressively worse, Stacey says doctors are concerned she may have muscular dystrophy.

For now, there’s not a lot to be done to reserve the effects of her unknown condition. Instead, the goal is to enhance Asra-Lee’s mobility as much as possible.

“To do that, she wears AFO splints all day and has access to a SPIO suit,” says Stacey.

A SPIO suit is an orthotic compression garment that helps her muscles move as they should, while AFO splints improve mobility and stability of the foot, ankle and calf. In combination, they help give Asra-Lee the best chance to move as she wants to.

“Unfortunately, her mobility isn’t something that will improve. All we can do is provide her tools to prevent any decline,” says Stacey.

Getting Asra-Lee moving

One way to prevent mobility loss is through physiotherapy to work on stability and coordination – but for a four-year-old, that can get boring pretty quickly! The best way is to ensure Asra-Lee enjoys it, so Satan’s Little Helper sent her a wooden jungle gym set to clamber over.

“She loves the climbing frame and enjoys getting up to sit on the top of it,” says Stacey. “I reckon it’s a thrill for her to be on top of it looking down!

“If it’s sunny outside, she loves to play on it for as long as she can – and I think the motion of climbing has really helped with her coordination and understanding of how her body works.

“She’s able to feel where her feet should be on the rope, which is important because, when she wears her splints, she can’t do that because they fit underneath her sole.”

Confidence builder!

Stacey also says having a frame has also helped Asra-Lee build confidence, which has led to her trying new things.

“Before we got the frame, she’d be very cautious – especially if something involved her using her body. But now she seems a lot more eager to give things a go! For example, she tried rock climbing for the first time and has even been abseiling!

“She’s excited to do things now, which I didn’t expect when we received the frame. That’s a massive benefit for us.”