Robot Arm

[marydell]

Our 7-year old neighbor girl, who is already crazy about Charlie, announced when she met him that "he can get a robot arm, and that'll be better.  They have one for the WII and it works really good."

In fact, he really can have a robot arm, although maybe not for the WII just yet.  There are a lot of different approaches to limb deficiency nowadays, but the orthopedist said he's a good candiate for a lot of options, ranging from no prosthesis at all to a myoelectric arm, that moves based on the wearer's muscle motion.  Cool!  We're starting him with occupational therapy ASAP so that he develops his core muscles correctly--basically, just giving him as much stimulation from the left as possible so he learns to turn that way and move the limb.  I'm going to get a bell I can tie to his sleeve, now that he's starting to turn his head toward sounds.

In a few months, once he starts sitting up, we'll take him to the Rehab Institute of Chicago to talk about a starter prosthesis.  We're not going to have him in one all the time, and we're not in favor of trying to look "normal," but we want make sure he learns the ability to use prosthetics as he grows up so that his options stay open.   We're going to go up and take a tour of their pediatric limb deficiency clinic soonish so we get to know all the people and services.  Yay RIC!  That's where my sister rehabbed 30 years ago after her stroke, and we're excited to be able to give Charlie the opportunity to work with them.

Comments

[marydell.livejournal.com]

As long as the control chip is less fragile than Doc Ock's...

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more along the lines of Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis and his amazing array of arms.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Here's where I admit that I've read almost no Heinlein--I started with Friday which didn't inspire me to read more. But I do have The Moon is a Harsh Mistress on my shelf, which counts for...nothing.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether I'd like TMIAHM if I were reading it for the first time at 40. I do still like most of the juvies, but the post-stroke dirty-old-man stuff, argggh. And I always hated Friday.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a pretty amazing book despite its problems. It might be best read as a companion to Steel Beach.

Getting the opportunity to grow up with a myoelectric arm is incredibly cool, and being able to get used to a variable body-image is also pretty cool, now I come to think about it. Charlie's a lucky guy.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Thanks! We're lucky to be able to give him options...hopefully we'll manage to strike the right balance. We want him to have the best possible range of abilities, but we also don't want him to feel "broken" if he's unable to afford a device sometime in his adult life.