“Katherine was what you would call a “clumsy kid” early in life.  She met all of her growth milestones, but she struggled with some fine motor skill items as she got closer to the age of 5.  One day while on vacation, I noticed that her right arm was not stretching as far as the left one.  I thought she injured it, but she didn’t have any pain within the arm.  When we returned home, we met with our pediatrician who noted that after looking closer, she suspected Katherine may have a mild case of Cerebral Palsy.  I was in shock.  I didn’t know “mild” cases existed.  I always pictured individuals in wheelchairs when they had that diagnosis. 

And so the long road to getting a diagnosis began.  While waiting for the CT scan to confirm that diagnosis, we began physical therapy.  Through an evaluation, a Physical Therapist showed me why Katherine was tripping on a regular basis.  Her right foot was not lifting properly off the floor.  She also had a very weak right arm and hand.  Katherine began PT immediately at age 5 and went 3x a week targeting those areas.  A few months later, we were able to get a confirmed diagnosis.  She had level one, right side hemiplegia and spasticity caused by brain damage in utero on the left side of her brain.  Simply put….she was confirmed as having been born with Cerebral Palsy. 

 After meeting with her Pediatric Neurologist, we learned that the good news was it isn’t something that gets progressively worse with age.  She would have to work very hard and focus on her right side to get it strong, but once it was there, she could maintain her condition with physical activity.  We continued with the physical therapy and Katherine began to show improvement.  A few months later, we were at a birthday party at G-force gymnastics.  I was curious if gymnastics would be a good fit for Katherine and began that discussion with Coach Gianna. 

 She immediately showed strong interest in Katherine and stated that not only was she a gymnastics’ coach, but she also was offering personal coaching sessions that would integrate gymnastics with physical therapy.  We were sold!  This would give Katherine the opportunity to strengthen her body, have fun and learn new skills.  After each session, Gianna met with me and reviewed the therapy completed that day.  She also offered homework and tasks for home.  Katherine exclusively worked with Gianna for almost a year at G-force.  After a year, she was at a point where she was able to enter the group sessions.  Gianna still meets with Katherine once a week to focus on the items that need a little more attention.  Along with that and the group lessons, Katherine has dramatically improved over the past 4 years. 

The TAG (Therapy Through Adaptive Gymnastics) at G-Force is an amazing program that truly changed my daughter’s life.  It has strengthened her right-side almost to the point that you don’t notice a difference between her right and left side.  She has developed confidence that she didn’t have before working with Coach Gianna.  The skills and interests she now has in gymnastics will be with her for the rest of her life.  She will need to stay physical active to keep her CP under control and this program has given her the skill set to do that.

If your child has any kind of physical limitation that requires physical therapy, I highly recommend this program.   We are so blessed to have Coach Gianna and the TAG program at G-Force Gymnastics!”