A sweeter treat

When Jaybird was a toddler, he was prescribed occupational therapy once a week. We would travel anywhere from 15-45 minutes to a therapist and then home with daily exercises. This routine went on until he was five. At that time, I became his "therapist" because the medical bills were insurmountable. He never officially "graduated" from therapy, we just simply had to stop going. Since then, we have enrolled both Jaybird and Toot in many therapeutic forms of exercise disguised as fun classes. We have tried gym, sports skills class, swimming, baseball and basketball.

This season Jaybird has continued swimming lessons that began in October (he hopes to be on a swim team in the spring) and has played basketball. I am indescribably proud of him. Playing team sports for him is like asking a child with dyslexia to read in front of the class, or worse, an auditorium full of people. Jaybird has sensory integration disorder and motor apraxia. Motor apraxia is a diagnosis often given to stroke victims. These people have difficulty getting messages from the brain to their bodies, especially with alternating sides of the body. As you can imagine, Jaybird would often rather avoid sports altogether.


Tonight is J's last night of basketball practice, preparing for his last game on Saturday. As usual, Upward sports has not disappointed him or us. We have been overwhelmed with gratitude towards one coach in particular. He has formed a very sweet bond with our little guy. J is mostly the slowest one, almost always at the end of the pack. Most of the games he has not even had the ball long enough to make a shot. But he tries very hard, and more importantly, he listens. This man basically took my son under his wing, without ever knowing about his motor apraxia. He sometimes ignores the rest of the boys to take the time to gently correct him and demand him to push himself harder and harder. They always seem to be together. And what I appreciate most is that this coach has never given up on Jaybird. At last Saturday's game, he caught J after the game and showed him a new move. He was alternating bouncing the ball under each knee with each hand. A globe-trotter-ish move, if you will. J watched closely, but had no clue where to begin. So Coach said, "Go home and get your Dad to help you. If you can do it at practice, I'll give you a candy bar. If not, you have to watch me eat the candy bar." Andy and J practiced for an hour with no luck. Andy said this skill was just too difficult for him right now. But they would continue to practice and get it eventually.


So tonight at practice J will watch Coach eat the candy bar. Oh well, he deserves it as much as Jaybird, if not more. The encouragment, hope and love he has given to J (and indirectly to us) is much, much sweeter!


**Updated: He did earn the candy bar! This kid never ceases to surprise me. Coach took J's face into his hands and told him how proud he was. Unforgettable!