Subject: skating

Hi all,

It looks like Liisa (6, del-) has really discovered the fun in skating. Last Friday, she went skating for the first time this season, and she was so excited she couldn't wait ! It was comparable to a situation you would imagine if she hadn't been swimming for a very long time.

Yes, I know that, given the poor balance, skating isn't really one of the first things you might want your child to try. However, Liisa began to walk at 21 months, and at 4 and 1/2 years, she was quite steady, so I took her on the ice. With standard skates and, of course, a helmet (plus a diaper which worked as a cushion if she fell), she could at first only stand there and didn't want to move. I encouraged her to slide a little bit, and I also took some candy and cookies for rewards. We made some progress, but she often whined and seemed to suffer, so we thought that skating might be more like a torture after all. During the 94/95 season, she had some 10-12 hours of skating.

Then her physiotherapist - an excellent one, I would say - heard about this and said that skating was in fact a very good form of PT. She began to take Liisa on the ice as well. Last season, she made a lot of progress and ended up in skating around for the full hour, enjoying tremendously. So it was only natural that she'd become excited by the news that she'd get there after a long break.

Of course Liisa doesn't skate like a normal 6-year-old would do after this amount of practice, but she is definitely getting better every time. I don't know what really excites her. It is certainly not the ice itself. She has always shown great interest in getting herself into difficult places and positions - as if she wanted to improve her balance and motor skills - so I guess she enjoys the fact that she can become a master of skating, too.

I thought I should share this, although I know that for many AS kids skating cannot be contemplated at the relatively early age of 6. I should add that Liisa is quite mildly affected in several respects. If anyone is interested, I would be glad to provide more details.

Heikki Taimio, dad to Liisa (6, del-) Finland

Subject: Re: skating

Dear Heikki,

Thanks so much for the skating report. I think this is something Sara could do, especially if we find "used ice." We live near a canal which freezes pretty rough anyway.

It sounds as if Liisa is in pretty good skeletomuscular shape. Did she ever need special attention to heel cords, wear a MAFO, etc.?

Sara is 10 and just recently starting to run, too--mostly from me when it's time to get on the van for school!

We talk so much about genetics here--don't discount Liisa's being Finnish in her skating aptitude.

Thanks again--can't wait for winter.

Martha

Subject: RE: skating

Heikki, Does Liisa's use regular figure skates with a single blade down the middle? If so is she able to keep her ankles straight? Has she ever had to wear AFO's (braces) ? Do you ever just pull her on skates?

Chris

Subject: RE: skating

At 14:55 9.9.1996 -0400, Chris Radke wrote:

> >Heikki, Does Liisa's use regular figure skates with a single blade down the middle? If so >is she able to keep her ankles straight? Has she ever had to wear AFO's (braces) ? Do you >ever just pull her on skates?

Yes and yes - as I said, girls' skates, i.e. the regular white ones, are pretty solid. You only have to tie the laces properly, neither too loosely nor too tightly.

No AFO's.

No, I didn't pull her, except when I used that hockey stick. I think the problem with pulling is that the child's skates would easily tend to get too much upfront. That's why I kept as close to her as possible.

Heikki Taimio, dad to Liisa (6, del-) Finland

Subject: Re: skating

Oh, Heikki, it's a stupid joke about living in Finland where I assume there's lots of ice and everyone is born knowing how to ice skate!

Martha

Subject: Re: skating

At 10:33 10.9.1996 -0500, Martha S Sprowles wrote:

>Oh, Heikki, it's a stupid joke about living in Finland where I assume there's lots of ice and >everyone is born knowing how to ice skate!

Martha,

FYI, we have four seasons of roughly equal duration, and natural ice is often available only in January and February. "Ice time" at artificial skating rinks (one indoor and one outdoor) is strictly rationed, because ice hockey is so popular and occupies most of it. In spite of that, a huge hall to be built for mainly soccer and track & field is taking priority over a new indoor skating rink.

So, although all children are indeed expected to learn how to skate, it is not that easy to do that here. At this time of the season, those who don't belong to any team, or cannot go there with their school or kindergarten (as Liisa did last Friday), have only one hour per week for skating, and I'm sure you can imagine the congestion ! I've never taken Liisa there, but maybe I should try now when she has improved so much. She would certainly enjoy more practice.

It is less difficult in Lapland where people don't see the sun for months, and where it may be so cold that children cannot go out for more than a few minutes. But that is a long way up north from here.

Heikki Taimio, dad to Liisa (6, del-) Finland

Subject: skating

Dear Heikki,

Thanks for the further information on MR/DD. I begin to believe that all labels are irrelevant except for purposes of funding. Sort of like specifying "race" on census forms.

I am very interested in hearing about Liisa's skating. I tried Sara on roller skates several years ago, but they were just too slippery. Sara is a big girl and hard for me to hold up. Does Liisa/did Liisa use some sort of balance-maintaining equipment? Sara loves to do whatever her big brother does (she body-surfs when we go to the beach, terrifying her dad and me), and I know she would want to skate. Details, please.

Martha

Subject: Re: skating

Dear Martha,

You have to visualize the situation when we started. There she is on the ice - skates, helmet and a diaper on but without any balance-maintaining equipment. Girls' skates are quite solid, so it is actually not difficult to just stand there, given Liisa's pretty good overall balance. I might mention here that she began to run much later, only a few months ago, and it was also quite recently that she dared to come down the three steps at our front door without any support.

Now, the problem is that as soon as she tries to move a little bit, she tumbles over. Terrifying ! So she starts to whine and refuses to move. However, she gets a glimpse of what it is like to glide on the ice when I take her hands or go behind her and support her whole body. Maybe because I always take such a bold approach to matters like this, it didn't even occur to me to use any other special device than a hockey stick, horizontally in front of her to grab at. If your child is bigger, you might want to consider more solid equipment.

I then realized that it would be much easier for her to take the first "steps" on "used ice", i.e. when a lot of people have already skated on it so that it is not so slippery. I guess this is much harder to do on roller skates. So when she started to move, it was not like skating at all, but taking extremely short steps, which I accepted as a beginning. I used to go to some distance and encourage her to come to me, praising and promising cookies and candy - I phased the rewards out as soon as she started to enjoy the act itself, except for the promise to take her on a sled ride around, with myself pulling it and doing all sorts of funny twists and turns. She enjoyed it tremendously and began to sign for 'skating', asking if I could take her there. At home, she used to put the skates on and walk around.

After these initial steps, progress has been gradual, as I said earlier. She doesn't ask for any rewards or support. She does it all on her own, and her movements on the ice resemble skating more and more. Her legs are still clearly stiff, but she gains more confidence. One peculiar feature is that she is so careful that she manages to skate for the full hour without tumbling over even once !

I might add also that Liisa's older sister, Annina (9), used to take formal lessons in figure skating, so that she was a model for Liisa. As for myself, I played junior ice hockey a lot, so I guess we had the interest, knowledge and confidence there.

Heikki Taimio, dad to Liisa (6, del-) Finland

Subject: Re: skating

At 13:07 9.9.1996 -0500, Martha S Sprowles wrote:

>Dear Heikki, Thanks so much for the skating report. I think this is something Sara could do, >especially if we find "used ice." We live near a canal which freezes pretty rough anyway.

I should add that some snow on the ice serves much the same purpose.

>It sounds as if Liisa is in pretty good skeletomuscular shape. Did she ever need special >attention to heel cords, wear a MAFO, etc.?

As a matter of fact, one of the first things that worried us and her neurologist was when she still couldn't walk and was standing with her feet twisted in a peculiar way. She had her feet examined by a special surgeon who said that PT is all she needs, and he was right. Some toe-walking still remains, though.

>We talk so much about genetics here--don't discount Liisa's being Finnish in her skating aptitude.

What do you actually mean by that ?

Heikki Taimio, dad to Liisa (6, del-) Finland