Donavon's First Braces

With CP (Cerebral Palsy) has come equipment to better prepare Donavon for his future. The first two things that he has been fitted for are hand splint's and "AFO's", ankle-foot orthoses (orthosis = brace) or you may even hear people call these "boot's".

He has been using the wrist splint's for 2 month's now and he has never minded them. He has a grasp as tight as mine and he holds it most of the time in both hand's because he has high tone in his hands. The splint's are suppose to encourage him to open his hand's more and he seems to be doing so. He wears these all day most day's. We do take them off at night when he goes to bed. The one thing that I think that kid's will enjoy with these is that they get to pick the color's for the splint's. Kid's grow fast, so they should get a new pair 2-3 times a year.


His leg's are another place in his body with high tone. He prefers to keep his legs tucked close to his body and the braces help to straighten them while stretching the muscles. The braces did take some getting used to. After a month of his physical therapist working with him and me some at home, he now wears them all day most day's with no problem. As with the wrist splint's, he needs to wear these all day. They can be worn with or without shoe's and he prefers to wear them with tall sock's for some comfort.

*I am actually posting this on August 6, 2006.