Wait a Minute! Back UP! Email 38

In this exercise I consider the child strong enough to lean down and up without support. If the child needs more help, then I use an adjustable bench for the child to lean down to and come back up. Obviously the lower the bench, the harder this is. I love the Kaye Products Adjustable benches for this. I keep 2 sizes of these in my treatment room. The biggest cheat I see in this exercise is the child pushing up off of his legs to get up. You’ll have to decide whether this cheat is acceptable or not. I usually don’t. Some clients have a hard time with grasp so an electronic keyboard on the ground gives auditory confirmation to everyone that the child made it to the floor. From there, I consider a large wad of keys pretty easy to grasp with 1 hand. Usually my parents have available a set of keys like this. I love toys with pieces like stacking rings, stacking cups or small puzzles for this type of activity. But often the clients who can perform this activity do not need a built-in reward for each repetition.

A larger object like a cardboard playground block will encourage 2 hand grasp before returning to upright. A playground ball also requires 2 hands to pick up but is trickier as it can roll away. Sometimes, this is the right challenge though. I have a client now that I do this exercise with that I use weighted balls for her to pick up. I have a shelf up high that she must place the ball on with each repetition. For her, I time the activity. I give her one minute, and I document how many times she can lean down and pick up the 8 lb ball.