Roo learning to walk!

Rachel Mohlman is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

My daughter, Riley (nickname Roo) will be 4 years old in October. She is learning to walk for the first time and a friend suggested we start a go fund me account to pay for an Upsee. The Upsee allows a child to practice walking while strapped to a parent. (article on Upsee)
We practice walking everyday and have 6 hours of therapy a week outside school. I am also adding an iPad mini to the Wishlist. Riley says a few words (mom, hi, dad, up, out), but due to the difficulty in coordinating the action from the brain and physical movement she doesn't say these frequently,not everyday. Understanding what she wants is sometimes very hard. She has been succesful at learning to tell us using an iPad to communicate and make choices in therapy, and an electronic communication device at school. At home we are learning sign-language which she also utilizes in therapy and school. I know she really needs an electronic device like an iPad at home, but have not been able to afford one yet.

She is a very happy, social little girl that delights in playing amongst her peers, and yearns for more freedom.

While Roo does have a lot of challenges to face, her strength of spirit has always been evident and her therapists believe she will walk independently, because she is very determined. We are all so proud of the improvements she has made.

To see some of her progress you can search: #roobearwinnietheroobear

I realize most of you reading this will already know of her.
But, for those of you who don't, Riley had a planned home-birth, she has a hypoxic brain injury, developmental delay and at age two was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Through all of this we have all been transformed by her captivating smile. Her happiness through her struggles to push through and improve have inspired everyone who knows her.
I certainly don't mean to brag, but merely illustrate the situation. People that have not met her in person tell me all the time how her pictures brighten their days.
Roo had always used a walker of some sort. Various babywalkers and now a gait trainer.
This new invention, the Upsee can positively impact her life by allowing us to maximize the amount if time spent walking outside of the gait trainer (which she has pretty-much mastered) any money left over will be put towards an iPad mini for communication.

Thanks for all your support! I look forward to sharing more info about the Upsee by Leckey(more info) after the webinar we pre-registered for and more on Roo's progress (as usual) ... ;)