Thoughts on this?

Can someone blue the link

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/upsee-harness-mothers-invention-to-give-disabled-son-chance-to-walk-will-help-countless-other-9213997.html

To blue a link you just put double square brackets round it.

Looks like fun I think - for parent and child.

Children are always being encouraged to do things they find difficult. In the case of wheelchair-bound kids it's just a harder physical challenge than usual. It doesn't mean they aren't being accepted the way they are to me but that they aren't being so limited by the way they are.

I don't think it's different in essence from, say, prostheses for people who have lost limbs.

It will also be very good for them physically. Standing up helps balance and stretches muscles that might not get a go when in a wheelchair. It will also help chest muscles and breathing. It's definitely a win-win.

I think it's brilliant.

Reminds me of when the DGCs were tiny and not quite walking so you stood them on your feet and waltzed around the room singing a silly song.

Isn't there a method where the parents of children with cerebral palsy can help their brains to learn patterns of movement by moving their limbs for them, over and over again? It is exhausting for the parents and boring for the children. This looks as though it could be doing the same kind of thing if it is used regularly, and it is giving them exercise while "standing" upright, which must be good for their breathing and muscle tone. They all seem to enjoy it too, which is a bonus.

The children looked so happy,

No, still uncomfortable. It can't last, children will become too big and what then? No more upright, no more walking, all gone. A glimpse, a taste of what might have been but can never be. Balance, breathing are all addressed by physio, prostheses last a lifetime and how many physical challenges does a disabled child have to go through? They don't have to be upright, mimicking normal gait as if this is the only or the best way to be. I find it quite deneaning. Their achievements are/should be made on their terms not attached to someone's feet like one of those dancing dolls. I speak as someone with their own disabilities.

Elegran I have heard about that with getting a person with mobility problems such as CP or those with strokes that modeling the movements can feed back to the brains to improve physical function.
Otherwise Physiotherapy in the case of strokes and CP is essential to stop what mobility a person has from deteriorating.

Exactly kateK. What happens when the child gets too heavy and pleads to go in the harness but the parent can't manage it anymore?

I hadn't thought of that .kateK, giving then taking away

When they are small, their parents can carry them about to see the world and play physically with them, which changes as they get older and heavier too. Is there such a difference between that and wearing the harness when they are small and enjoying the fun then, and then outgrowing it?

Their cerebral palsy may vary from minimal to extreme, and those less disabled may learn movements and balance from using it that help them to walk to the best of their ability.

Looking at their website, it seems that these are only used when the child is already involved in an 'upright/standing' programme already. Also that there are physical benefits such as better development for joints and muscles by a child being able to use those parts of their bodies. I guess it also prepares them for using a walking aid when they are too old to use the harness.

I understand what you are saying Katek but this is probably a prototype and will be developed for older children/adults so that they can stand upright too. It remains to be seen but I would be concerned about giving the child something and then taking it back away. Let's hope that something else will be invented along side this.

I had an aunt who had cerebral palsy. My mother said she didn't walk until she was four. I don't inow if that was just four or nearly five. I notice that a couple of the children in the photo are still three, so maybe they are expected to walk in due course, just later than usual.

My aunt always walked clumsily and had to have special shoes but she got around.

The children don't look distressed - they look happy. Perhaps this will help to develop their walking skills (I believe, from the psychology course I did, that it was said neural pathways form not just in the early weeks after birth but for several years afterwards - and they can adapt to changing circumstances. I'm not sure if I've got it right so if there's a medical person on here perhaps they can elaborate on this). Also, as others have said, it will help to prevent too much muscle wastage and keep joints more mobile.

Anyway, who's to know what developments there may be in years to come. I think I saw something recently where it was said progress was being made in restoring lower body function to people who are paralysed.

All sorts of aids are used for people with different disabilities or following medical events - hearing aids, glasses, prosthetic limbs, breast reconstruction after mastectomies, etc., etc. It doesn't, in my opinion, mean you don't accept people as they are, it is helping them to optimise what they can do.

I'd be more distressed by the fact that children with cerebral palsy are being refused an operation on the NHS which can potentially help with their walking. There have been several locally where parents are fund raising to gave this done privately at a mere cost of £10,000 to the NHS but that's a lot for some families.