As a physical therapist, I have had several patients who have made significant progress toward their functional mobility and strength goals because of the Dustins’ Paw program at our pediatric clinic.
One little girl I work with has great difficulty with attention, making it difficult for her to stick with activities long enough to gain strength and endurance. As much as I might try to cajole and sing and do antics to keep her attention, the truth is that she is much more interested in our furry, four-legged friends Prairie and Ovelle. One activity that we do for building strength and endurance is pedaling the modified tricycle. When this little girls is working with a therapist alone, she is not able to maintain pedaling action more than about 15 feet at a time. However, when she is chasing the dogs, she can pedal ½ block down the sidewalk with nothing more than steering assistance from her physical therapist!
– Therese Gerard