Charlie Visits the Zoo

Charlie is 3 1/2 years old. He was diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome around 6 months old. Charlie has been working with physiotherapy since he was 1. Since then he has made huge strides when it comes to his independence. When we first started PT, he would tolerate 15 minutes of therapy at most. Today Charlie tolerates 1 full hour of therapy. We mostly work on walking and standing balance. New in the last couple months has been introducing the use of his walker (after several failed attempts in the past— when children with CHARGE are ready, they are ready; when they aren’t, they aren’t!). He finally has the independence he has been working so hard to achieve. Recently, we brought Charlie to our local zoo and brought his walker along with us. He loves the water and it turns out he loved the splash pad at the zoo more so then the animals! He navigated his way to the different areas that were spraying water. He loves the sensory aspect of the water shooting out. It’s been so amazing to see his determination and strong will develop.