4 Things Constraint Therapy Is Teaching Me
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Over the last year, Graceson’s rehabilitation progress has pretty much plateaued. In a search for other options to keep him developing, his overseeing medical team suggested Constraint Therapy. So, the entire month of February, Graceson is participating in a Constraint Therapy Program at KKI in Baltimore. He just finished his first week and we have already learned a ton. First, let me say, he is doing SO well. Basically, they put a cast on his good arm, force him to use his bad arm, and require him to have 3 hours of therapy EVERY day in Baltimore for one whole month. It is intense! But, frankly, it is all way harder for US than him! Hard schedule. Hard to watch. He is a champion…resilient, positive, brave and spirited. We hope it makes the impact we long for.
My mind has been active this week taking in the various lessons this experience is already teaching me. I would like to share some of them with you.
We all prefer what’s easy. Ever since Graceson experienced his stroke in 2017, he prefers to use his left arm, hand and leg for most things. He uses righty when he HAS to. His brain can communicate much faster and clearer with his left side, so he prefers what’s easy. And so do you and I. We do this all the time without even knowing it. Every day we are making subconscious choices to do what’s easy. We just don’t see it and no one is pointing it out.
We can do more than we think we can. We are the ones that place these limits on ourselves. We can always do more than we think we can. The only thing stopping us is our brain! Graceson’s brain is limiting him in a way that is noticeable. Your brain and mine are playing sneaky tricks on us all the time convincing us that we cant do things that we absolutely can.
You can rewire your brain in 30 days if you are willing to be pushed. So, being in constraint therapy with Graceson this month is teaching me a really important lesson…if you are willing to be limited and pushed in the short term, there is big payoff in the long term. For 30 days Graceson will be blocked from using his left arm and hand. And it is frustrating. But as he pushes through, his brain is literally creating new pathways for what’s possible. He is discovering things he can do with his righty that he never knew were possible. The same thing would happen for you and I if we were willing to tolerate something extreme to stretch us.
Be careful. Things are sometimes the exact opposite of what they look like. The day he got casted and finished his first treatment, I took Graceson to Five Below to pick a toy out. As we approached the checkout counter, the cashier said harmlessly “What happened buddy? How did you hurt your arm?” Graceson looked at me with a mix of fear and confusion. “What do I say, Daddy?” I guided him through it and walked out realizing a big lesson. Sometimes things are OPPOSITE what they look like. In this case, that is 100% true. He actually “hurt” the arm without the cast and the one with the cast is perfectly fine. Tuck this lesson away. You may need it someday.
A final word… Other than my son, Graceson is two things for me: My hero and my teacher. There are so many ways that I look up to him and there are tons of things I am learning from him. Tricia and I don’t know what the future holds for him or where all of this is going, but I got a feeling. And it’s a good one.
PS: Shout to our adopted Parents Joni and Pat Kellar who are sharing this load with us. Without them, we are dead in the water. How we love them.