Adaptive Tricycle Pedals

As soon as we saw that little plus sign, my world changed. We were thrilled and immediately my thoughts ran wild. I thought about our new little baby and all she would do. I thought about playing at the park, riding bikes, playing soccer, dancing, singing...anything and everything good that you can imagine, I imagined for our little baby. I imagined what she'd be like and what she would be like. Twenty weeks later, a doctor informed me that our little girl may not do all those things I had imagined. My world changed again. (At the time, even though it would mean a lot of pain, I didn't realize it was for the better.)

A while back now, our PT introduced Samantha to the tricycle. I thought she was the cutest thing under the sun as she sat on that tricycle. I didn't care that she couldn't do it herself, she seemed to enjoy it as Kathy pushed her little by little. Soon, Samantha caught on to the concept of needing to push, but she tends to push both legs at the same time -- not so effective when trying to ride a bike. But, just what if she could get it? What if she could ride her own tricycle?! The image in my mind is delightful.

As I watched Kathy push Sammy along, I thought of all the physical-therapy-type-stuff that riding a bike could be helpful for...similar motion to walking -- legs are working independently -- etc. If only her arms were moving at the same time, she could be working on that cross-pattern too. But, we can't have it all -- at least not all at the same time, right?

Aloud I entertained some thoughts about how I could probably make some, and she said, "We have the plans written up. I'll get you a copy." A parent at our local Parent Helping Parents drew them up. Great! (I'm pretty sure these aren't copyrighted...if so, all credit goes to whoever it is who created them at Parents Helping Parents. I also don't have a scanner, so I went with a picture. I just thought this needed to be shared.) So, I sent them off to Dad in Michigan and assigned him to work on Sammy's new adaptive bike pedals. Work he did. They are a bit different than the original plans, but they are beautiful and they work. Here are some close-up pictures of the ones they use at therapy:

You can see that the actual pedal is between 2 pieces of wood.

Before she was born, I had imaged Sammy riding a bike. It's been a long time since that thought has entered my mind...but it's back. I get such a thrill pushing her along and helping her -- and she's slowly getting it. Maybe we won't ride on long crazy trails together, but I think I get more of a thrill just thinking about her riding a little tricycle down the sidewalk and watching her learn the process. We've had a lot of fun as a family. Callie likes helping her big little sister on her bike rides, and Sammy loves it too. If anything, it's opened a new door for fun family time. And, perhaps that's the most important thing.