Day 499 - Fine Motor Skills & Helmet Appointment

Friday, May 13th, 2022

Today for physical therapy we focused on fine motor skills, specifically the pincher grasp. This skill usually develops in babies around 9 to 10 months old. The pincer grasp is an important fine-motor milestone. Children use their pincer grasp to pick things up and feed themselves, and it lays the foundation for a good pencil grip when they start school. We tried with breaking up pieces of cereal in a bowl. Sometimes James would use three fingers and sometimes his whole hand. One of the suggestions was to get an ice cube tray which would only allow him to put in two fingers at a time.

In the late morning we had a follow-up helmet appointment. This time they did a 4D scan and showed us the difference since he started. It was minimal, which can only be expected with not being able to follow the wearing schedule due to the rubbing. However this helmet has enabled James to roll more easily. He takes naps or sleeps on both sides now which helps his torticollis! The plan is to continue the helmet wearing until his scans do not improve at all within 2 months. We are still going to have follow-up appointments every 2 weeks for now.

James is a night owl. Every night as we are about to do trach care around 8:00 p.m. James acts like he just had a cup of coffee! 

P.S. Do you follow James' journey? James would love to read an email from you. His email is JamesWestonAbramowitz@gmail.com. How heartwarming for him to receive these and fun for you to get a response from him in like 10 years...