Recently, we had the privilege of speaking to Anna, Arthur’s mother, who shared with us Arthur’s incredible journey of defying all odds and visiting Gympanzees
“Hi, I’m Anna. I’m the mother of Arthur, who is six. We’ve been lucky enough to be coming to Gympanzees for four years now.
Arthur is the most loving, happy, confident, intelligent little boy I’ve ever met. He knows every single dinosaur, he loves books, he loves people, and especially music and dancing. Arthur was born at 26 weeks, so he was three and a half months early. I didn’t even think you could have babies that early.
Until it happened when he was two weeks old, we were told that he had severe cerebral palsy because of a bleed on the brain that was so severe that they said he’d never walk or talk. But luckily because he was so prim, a neonatal neurosurgeon advised us that we could create new pathways for the brain.
So I was obsessed. with music, massage and skin to skin. He has absolutely excelled. He was home a month before his due date. And he is just an absolute joy and delight. We get invited to a lot of places, events, parties, activity centres, where Arthur might be able to join in maybe one, if at all. It breaks my heart for him because he wants to be involved.
He wants to copy what his friends are doing. He wants to climb up to the high climbing frame on the apparatus. So everywhere we go, I’m always telling him no or explaining why to other children, why he can’t do things. And it can be pretty soul destroying and heart breaking to see that. He’s always the one that can’t do things until we come here.
Not only can he explore and access everything, but he can also see children and I can meet families that are like us, and we don’t feel like so isolated anymore as well.
We’ve been really lucky that Cerebral Palsy Plus have treated us to sessions. It’s just wonderful because every room is completely different and every room has a different benefit for Arthur, whether it’s his vestibular system, whether it’s his cognitive Ends 1 or even just relaxation in a sensory room.
With toddlers, they will fall over, and they will catch themselves. That’s how we learn to balance and how we learn to walk. Having cerebral palsy and being in a wheelchair, Arthur’s missed out on that. So when he’s falling about on the trampoline, when he’s being pushed in that sled, All of that helps his vestibular system, so I’m hoping that that is going to help walk one day.
But it’s just to see him so happy and so comfortable and at home. Like, you say the word Gympanzees, he just like jumps up so excited. Apart from the fact that we can see our children really thrive and interact with their peers, for parents, I think it’s really lovely for us, especially the dark sensory room.
Because you can just fully relax and switch off. And I actually think that all parents of children with additional needs need that. I just think it helps my mental health and my well being overall. And I think that every human being should experience Gympanzees.”
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