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Basketball Manager Thomas Adams

March 12, 2013 By
thomas-adams-basketball-hemiplegic-cerebral-palsy

Thomas and his parents attended the very first Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association Family Retreat in Georgia in 2001. He was a fun loving little boy and had turned into a young man with a love of basketball. Thomas is also a stroke survivor, having had a stroke when he was a baby. This left him with limited use of his right arm and hand. For the past four years, Thomas has served as team manager for the Bridgman High School boys basketball team. Thomas is a senior at Bridgman this year and has enjoyed not only managing the team, but also playing in a couple fo games. Read more about Thomas' experiences with the team.   … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adaptive Sports, Our Kids in Sports, Our Kids Rock! Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Brian – Bike Rider, Soccer Player, and Gamer

February 22, 2013 By
Bike Riding with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

    Brian is a happy 10 year old that loves soccer, playing computer and Xbox games as well as PSP games. He has occupational therapy twice a month and aquatic therapy twice a week and loves it! He will be attending a bicycle training to let go of the training wheels in June 2013. … [Read more...]

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Champion Pumpkin Carver and Pediatric Stroke Surivor Nick

October 30, 2012 By
Pumpkin Carving Pediatric Stroke Survivor Nick

For those of you who don't know my almost 10 year old son, Nick, he has met many challenges. Born with transposition of great arteries, cardiac arrest, right side stroke, hydrocephalous and developmental delays, he has met many challenges that I never thought we're possible and continues to meet challenges when some people, including myself, would have never expected. Nick still cannot use his left hand and arm fully, but tries very hard. Dressing is a challenge. Today we worked on carving his pumpkin. He said let me. So I did with very close supervision. Nick triumphed and was so happy to meet yet another challenge. So for those who are scared and worried, I want to share that sometimes you can take a breath and know there is hope if we believe. ~ Nick's mom … [Read more...]

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Jude Paints Kandu during Occupational Therapy

August 28, 2012 By
Boy with hemiplegic cerebral palsy paints during occupational therapy

Kandu, the CHASA Mascot, was sighted at Jude's house this weekend. Jude is nine years old and has hemiplegic cerebral palsy due to a stroke at age five. Jude works really hard in occupational therapy and that's where he was when he painted this amazing portrait of Kandu. The Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association board members were very excited to see Jude's painting.  Way to go, Jude!!  You "can do" some really great art work! Read more about the CHASA Mascot, Kandu. … [Read more...]

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Caitlyn’s Doing the Bum-scooting Boogie

June 19, 2012 By
Caitlyn, Pediatric Stroke Survivor Crawls

Caitlyn has just been diagnosed in February with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy secondary to a Perinatal stroke. At 10 months old she was not able to sit up well even with support and with the hard work and support of great family, friends and especially great PT and OT she started bum-scooting in December and started to crawl today. She is so determined to do everything on her own no matter what and we are all so proud of her. Its been a long road that led to this accomplishment and we know we still have a lot ahead of us but her strength and determination inspires us all, and we are so grateful to have her in our lives. … [Read more...]

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Kids with Hemiplegia Can Play the Guitar

June 8, 2012 By
guitar2

If you're the parent of a child with hemiplegia or any disability, you just hate to think of telling your child that you don't think they can do something. I like to think that my daughter can do just about anything - she's very determined and I always encourage her or at least keep my mouth shut. But, when she came to me and announced that she was going to play the guitar -  knowing that she has NO fine motor skills in her right hand - well, I wasn't exactly a major cheerleader at that moment. Bring in her fabulous music therapist who pointed us towards A Day's Work. This company designs and builds musical instruments and adaptive aids for person who have physical challenges. Check out their adaptive guitar picks. With the use of a hand splint with an aluminum stay (to help her hand stay in a useful position) and the adaptive pick, my daughter is strumming away to her favorite songs. Which songs? The clue is in the photo. … [Read more...]

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Strong as Steel Adaptive Sports

May 9, 2012 By
strong-as-steel-logo

My son Trent, who has survived many hemorrhagic strokes in his young life, has right hemiplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.  He has always been a natural runner, running has seemed to come more easily to him than walking!  When he tried other sports, soccer, baseball etc. he excelled at the running parts but wasn’t a huge fan of the other stuff.  In the Spring of 2011, my husband and I decided to start looking into a running program for him.  There was no adaptive track and field program in our area but he wanted to run and we had some great support from other families who had gone before through CHASA.  We got some great information, about how to qualify and register for the National Junior Disability Championships from them.  He qualified for NJDC and attending NJDC was a wonderful experience for him and our entire family!  He came home feeling fantastic about himself and also asking excellent questions like “why don’t we have a team in Pittsburgh” and “I bet there … [Read more...]

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Pediatric Stroke Survivor Brody is Jumping

May 4, 2012 By

Brody is an in-utero stroke survivor who has struggled through every developmental milestone due to lack of muscle tone, balance, and coordination. After months and months of trying and lots of practice, Brody jumped off a platform! We are so proud of him and his determination to accomplish things we all take for granted.   httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvMqYTamPH8 Read more about Brody's Journey. Brody's Parents are Streaking for Pediatric Stroke. … [Read more...]

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Introducing the Inspirational Evan – And My Streak for Pediatric Stroke

May 1, 2012 By
Back Camera

February 21, 2008. It’s the day that changed our lives forever. I can still remember the phone call I received from the doctor’s office – the nurse telling me that the pediatric neurologist had reviewed the results of our son Evan’s MRI and wanted to speak to me and my husband.  I still tear up when I think about the doctor telling us that Evan, who had just turned seven months old, had suffered a stroke. He threw out words like left middle cerebral peduncle, perinatal infarction, cerebral palsy, hemiplegia. All I could think about was my beautiful, sweet little boy and the journey that we were about to embark on as a family. The next several months were filled with therapy sessions, doctor’s visits, lots of explaining Evan’s diagnosis to friends and family, some denial, and lots of wallowing in self-pity. Then, during one of our doctor’s visits, one of Evan’s neurologists asked us something that changed my outlook on our situation. He said, “I’m sure you’ve … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Honoring Evan, Our Kids Rock!, Pediatric Stroke Awareness

Children With Hemiplegia Cerebrate Life

March 30, 2012 By
Happy girl with hemiplegia

Happy news from families of children who have hemiplegia. We appreciate the small things in life!   Children with hemiplegia often have multiple disabilities including difficulty using one hand, weakness on one side, seizures, vision, speech, learning, behavioral and emotional differences.  They may struggle, but life does not keep them down. Celebrate with us! Benaiah did great in speech therapy today. He played on the computer and said 11 words. Casey managed to peel a banana with her affected hand. Yea! Lexi sat "criss cross applesauce" for the first time by herself. Toby, 17 months old, with right hemiplegia, transferred a toy from his left hand into his right! This is the first time he has ever done this. He was proud of himself, but not nearly as proud as mommy and daddy were! Last night Arianna was talking up a storm. She put her little hand over her heart and did the full pledge of Allegiance. We are a military family and she goes to school on base at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Our Kids Rock!