Evie's world has changed for the better. She got SMO's, or AFO's. I've heard a lot of acronyms, and this was just another set of them until I realized what they really meant. Supramellar orthotics or ankle-foot orthotics help a child to feel more stable so that they can learn to walk. In Evie's case, her ankles were so weak that she would try to keep her legs stiff so that she didn't feel so unstable. She was really afraid of falling over, and I don't blame her. Meet the cutest little SMO's you've ever seen. When you go to the orthotics place (we went to NOPCO, which is a veritable empire of orthotics centers all across the region), they will take measurements of your child's foot with a measuring tape (hopefully not necessary to make a cast of their foot). We waited a month for this appointment, so I would advise not waiting to make that appointment. You need a note of medical necessity from the doctor to got here. ...
While sharing our journey with Down Syndrome, we want to help other parents with our experiences, as well as spread awareness about what it means to have Down Syndrome (spoiler: it means great things!).