Amelia is 2 years and two months old and cannot yet walk independently. She has Down Syndrome and this means she has low muscle tone. Amelia has to work harder to achieve the things a typical child does such as rolling, crawling, standing and walking. Even things like holding a spoon and feeding herself is a lot harder to do. But with intervention, physio and lots of practice we can help her achieve these things much quicker and easier.

The typical age range of people with Down syndrome walking is anywhere between 24-36 months.

It has only been in the last few months that Amelia has taken her first steps (which is INCREDIBLE!!!) but she isn’t confident enough to take more steps independently, she needs to hold on to someone/ something.

She has had physio through the NHS, however in March this year they discharged her due to waiting lists, number of patients being seen in clinic and the levels of criteria needed to assess this service. We have since seen a private physio and also attended the amazing charity Heel and Toe for conductive education.

It is now clear that Amelia needs a walker to help her become more independent and get more confident in waking on her own. However, NHS would not provide one when we asked and we can’t get a walker from the other services we use.

If she had a walker Amelia would be able to move around at nursery with her peers rather than relying on crawling. It would ultimately build up her core strength, which is what will allow her to walk independently without a walker one day. Growing her confidence so that she has something to hold on to is key on her journey to walking. It will be a very long process without one and we really hope we can get a walker for Amelia to help her ❤️