Linda Freeman – a mother living with her family in Northwich – travels over an hour every 6-8 weeks to bring her four-year-old daughter, Lucy, to Targeted Training at The Movement Centre in Oswestry.

Linda first heard about The Movement Centre and the work that they do from Lucy’s physiotherapist, and whilst they didn’t formally recommend it for Lucy, her mum thought it would be worth a try. Whilst she is officially undiagnosed, Lucy lives with hypertonia, a low immune system, limited head control and delayed movement development.

“They felt it wasn’t suitable for Lucy but we felt that an assessment was necessary,” she said. “I was hopeful that they would accept her and she would have a chance to develop and improve.”

After having her initial assessment in February 2020, it was identified that Lucy had some difficulty with posture and movement control so it was felt that she would in fact benefit from a course of Targeted Training therapy.

 

Whilst Lucy’s progress has, so far, been intermittent due to fluctuations in her health, Linda remains hopeful that Lucy’s progression will continue throughout her year of treatment – particularly after seeing what she’s been able to do so far.

“We’d be happy with anything. Lucy has hip dysplasia and we feel that with the use of her standing frame that there hasn’t been as much deterioration. She seems stronger and we’ve seen prop sitting from her.”

Whilst the sessions focus on Lucy and her development, Linda also feels that she’s benefited from the Targeted Training therapy.

 

“We don’t get to see Lucy standing a lot so it’s really good to have the standing frame, it’s really nice to see her standing and having us just sitting there, playing with her face to face.

“We don’t normally get the opportunity to do that as I normally sit behind her to hold her up. If there’s something that we know she likes on telly we can put her in there – like The Chase. She loves the dramatic music.”

When discussing Linda’s hopes and goals for her daughter’s future, she admitted: “I don’t want to set the bar too high. With Lucy it can be two steps forward and one back, or the other way round. I’d be happy with seeing her stronger and sitting independently one day. The Movement Centre is on the same page too which is fantastic.

“As The Movement Centre is private we definitely feel like Lucy has gotten some more attention. You feel like you’re not on a waiting list or being overlooked at all. It’s more of a guest tailored experience.”

Lucy is on a year-long programme and, due to her health, the flexibility of each of her appointments means that she doesn’t miss out on any sessions.

We’ll be following Lucy’s journey as she progresses through her Targeted Training programme. You can find out about other children who have completed their Targeted Training programme with us here.