- [Bree] Our family is my partner Mitch, and myself,
and we've got a daughter, Dylan, who is five, almost six.
And this is Dax.
He's three, and he'll be four in November.
He's a little legend.
He's a determined little kid.
He's pretty cool, calm, and collected most of the time.
He's a joy.
Dax was born with congenital cytomegalovirus,
which affected his brain development.
He has a few conditions from that,
one of them being dystonic cerebral palsy.
He's also got a vision impairment,
hearing impairment, and epilepsy.
We were first referred to a physiotherapist at our
local hospital, and we'd been seeing her probably for about
two months, and she was the first one that said,
"I think you need to see the Cerebral Palsy Alliance."
I was a bit hesitant at first, I think, more so because
I was probably in denial, that Dax needed that.
I actually still remember the first meeting.
I remember walking in there, and we sat on the floor.
He was on his back, and I just remember bawling my eyes out
to these women that I had never met before.
(sniffles)
And actually having someone tell me
that he was going to be okay, that there were things
that we could be doing to help him.
And that we can actually make a difference
to his ...
outcomes.
They were probably the first people that actually,
we left there and actually had hope
about what we could be doing at home.
They got it.
- Children with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy
or a high risk diagnosis of cerebral palsy under the age
of 12 months are able to access our Babies at Risk program.
When we get babies into therapy as early as we possibly can,
we harness neuroplasticity, and that is the brain's ability
to make changes for the good.
If we compare it to another condition such as stroke,
which can affect you or I, we wouldn't delay starting
therapy for someone who has had a stroke beyond 48 hours.
And in fact the Australian National Guidelines
for stroke management advise commencing out-of-bed
movement activities before 48 hours.
- [Bree] Our sessions, from the beginning,
with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance
were all about setting up the foundations for ...
where he is now.
So I look back and I think about all the positioning
and getting him kneeling, and working on his leg strength
and his arm strength and his core stability ...
is where he is now, he's crawling.
My hopes are high.
I remember the first time we met with the neurologist,
I said to him, "What's your best case scenario for Dax?"
And he told me, and I said, "Well I'm gonna beat it."
I hope he'll walk, I'm confident he will.
I hope that he has that independence down the track.
I hope he has lots of friends.
I hope that he enjoys school, hope that he lives a long
and fulfilling purposeful life.
(soft piano music)