Hayden's Story

For those that know and those that may not know. I have an exceptional little boy named Hayden.  He was born with a medical condition called hypotonic cerebral palsy.  This is only about 10% of the cp cases.  My sweet little boy met that 10%. Some tell me they are sorry to hear about my son's disability but you know there is no reason to be sorry. He is bright, happy, funny, and will light up everyone's world he meets. I won't say that our road has been full of rainbows but we have many more wonderful memories than bad.

When I knew something was not quite right?  I think around 9 months I thought hmm my happy sweet boy is not sitting or his own. He is not pulling to stand like other kids or bearing weight on his legs. Here is when our roller coaster ride for 2.5 years began.  I spoke to my son's pediatrician who I adore. Really love him!! I can't praise him enough for his compassion and interest in my son but enough about my doctor we will talk about how we got to our diagnosis.  After I met with my son's pediatrician we went through an evaluation which I will not pretend was pretty.  I cried, I was devastated, I thought to myself why did this happen to my sweet boy. I can remember vividly crying and calling my very best friend Mickie who tried to comfort me the best way she could. She just listened. That is what I needed at that very moment.  For the longest time we were told Hayden had hypotonia. Those not familiar with that medical term it means low muscle tone. This impacted everything that Hayden did from learning to sit, crawl, stand and start to walk.  Well, after we qualified for services we started receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy from Easter Seals.  Two wonderful ladies came into our lives Denise our pt and Colleen our ot.  Honestly, they got me through some very trying times.  They were there teaching my little man how to do all the things we take for granted every day.  Hayden learned to sit at the age of two, began to crawl at 2.5, and learned to walk with a posterior walker called a crocodile walker closer to the age of 3. Given Hayden's medical condition he also was delayed with his speech Easter Seals also provided us with a great speech therapist who boosted his language in preparation to transitioning to preschool.

We still stay in touch with our therapist. They honestly are like family to me.  Hayden now transitioned to the school system and goes to pre school at TECC. He loves it there! It amazes me to see my little guy walk to his classroom with his walker.  He is talking so well now too.  He is just the best little boy you will ever meet. We think he has a future in politics.

I cannot wait for everyone to read more about his adventures.