The water babies
Some 300 children with disabilities use the pool at Niagara Children’s Centre every year
On any given day, his small two-yearold hands are balled up into fists so tight his dad can barely wiggle a finger into his palm.
His arms, like taut elastic bands, are pulled into his chest. He needs to wear splints on his hands to stretch out his fingers.
The boy’s muscles are rigid because of severe cerebral palsy. Bennett O’Brien-Underhill does not walk or talk; he can swallow, but can’t chew or sit up. He travels in a wheelchair and at home, his parents strap him onto an adaptive stander to give him some time upright. Holding up his head is difficult.
If his dad, Travis Underhill, holds his hands and gently tugs up on his arms up he usually starts to cry.
His life is filled with a whirlwind of medical appointments, equipment and specialists.
Once a week, he comes to the pool at the Niagara Children’s Centre with his dad. Together they bob around with other parents whose children also receive services at the centre.
The warm, 92 degree Celsius water is like sunshine on a tight flower bud. Bennett’s muscles relax and his hands open up. There are times when the experience is so soothing he has closed his eyes and been close to falling asleep in his father’s arms.
It’s a place of freedom for his son, says Travis.
A place where the weight of gravity is lifted and his muscles are so pliable that his arms easily lift above his shoulders when his dad pulls up on his hands.
“It relaxes every part of his body simultaneously,” says Travis.
The pool was built nearly 40 years ago, a decade after the centre opened in 1969. Every year, some 300 children and families use the pool as part of their therapy and to accomplish personal goals.
This summer, it will undergo repairs thanks to $15,500 in funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The water will be drained and programs will take a break.
The pool is fully accessible with a lift that can transfer people from a wheelchair into the water. There are grab bars around the perimeter. And the large, open-space change rooms offer a variety of table beds, some that can be wheeled poolside.
The physical benefits of aquatic therapy can include pain reduction and muscle strengthening. Children who can’t walk on land, can walk across a submerged table with the buoyancy of water, says Chris Tawil, program facilitator of rehabilitation services. The warm water encourages more freedom of movement for kids with conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.
Children have many opportunities for independence, communication and social interaction with other kids, she says.
And it’s all accomplished by having fun.
“It’s about being a kid,” says recreation therapist Jaymieson O’Neill.
Given a choice, four-year-old Charlotte Linton would spend the entire pool session floating on her back, says mom, Sarah Linton.
Charlotte has Down syndrome and is just starting to walk. She can take about 30 steps on her own but otherwise motors around on her bum.
In the pool she kicks, splashes and after much encouragement in the form of claps and cheers over several sessions, she has enough confidence to jump off the side into her mom’s arms.
They have come to the pool nearly every week for the past three years. “She has something she can do independently,” says Linton.
During one morning session, a group of kids and parents bob around the pool searching for primary-coloured balls, then drop them into matching-coloured foam animals placed on the edge of the pool. Afterwards, they execute penguin jumps off the edge, blow bubbles like fish and sing a version of Old MacDonald had a Zoo while executing various animal-imitating actions.
In the thick of it all, they practice, unknowingly, skills such as balance and co-ordination, water safety, turn taking, decision-making and some good exercise.
Maxwell Denton is 18 months old and lives with a rare form of dwarfism. He will likely be shorter than other kids his age, and will require surgeries to correct dislocated joints, says his mom, Charlotte.
He can pull himself up on furniture and stand, but will probably be delayed walking.
In the water, his biggest thrill is pushing off the edge of the pool with his legs, the perfect activity to build muscle and strengthen joints, she says.
When mom Ashley Engelberg says “splish splash” to her 3½-year-old daughter, Leah, it means either bath or pool time. Leah does not use words. Her mother is trying out a communication strategy where she puts two pictures on a board for Leah to see, and whichever one her eyes pause on longest, is her choice.
There is no questioning her love of water.
“She’s like a little fish,” says Engelberg.
She kicks, splashes with her arms — and smiles. “Her face says it all,” she says.
In the pool, dad Travis holds Bennett’s legs and makes them kick and splash water. He tries to form his son’s fingers around a small ball, tickles his feet and offers him lots of cheek kisses.
“I want to stimulate as many neurons as I possibly can,” he says.
And then, near the end of the session a boy reaches over, touches Bennett’s hand and smiles.
For a moment, Bennett’s eyes focus on the boy.
“Experiences like that,” says Travis, “I will take that away forever.”
“She has something she can do independently.”
SARAH LINTON
speaking of four-year-old daughter Charlotte