Spineabifida Doesn’t Have to Stop Your Child From Having Fun

Stephanie is 11 years old. She loves to go swimming, swing on the swing set and play with her friends. She has big dreams about going to college, becoming an oceanographer and studying ocean life so that she can better learn how to protect it. Her parents are very supportive of her dreams and they take her on boating expeditions and to aquariums all the time.

Like you, Stephanie has a lot of things she cares about in her life, and she has big hopes and dreams for the future. However, what makes you and Stephanie different from each other is that Stephanie can’t walk. Stephanie has spina bifida.

What is Spina Bifida?

Spina bifida is a condition that occurs when there is an opening of the spine in a fetus. The spine is in place to protect the spinal cord. For those of you that don’t know, the spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that sends messages back and forth to your brain and the rest of your body. These messages can be anything from as simple as telling your hand to scratch your nose, to the more complex, such as telling your foot to kick a soccer ball or your hand to pull itself away from a hotplate. However, in individuals with spina bifida, the spinal cord isn’t protected, making this kind of “instinctive reaction” difficult to impossible.

The opening in the spine characterized by spina bifida is damaging to the spinal cord, and it can hinder the spinal cord’s communication with the brain. For individuals with spina bifida this means thst when the brain tells the hand, “scratch your nose,” the hand is slow to respond…when the brain says, “kick the ball,” the foot doesn’t do as told…when the brain tells the hand to “MOVE!”, it won’t until it’s too late…

If a person didn’t have spina bifida, these messages would have gotten through. However, individuals such as Stephanie do have spina bifida, and so they need to learn to live life a little differently than those without.

Life With Spina Bifida

Living with spina bifida is different for every individual who has it – but isn’t that the way it is for everyone in this thing we call life? However, I can say this: living with spina bifida means that the individual affected has to be extra careful in everything they do. They must take extra care of their bodies, and they can’t throw them around in the way kids with healthy spines can. They must learn to read their bodies better than most young children, and pay attention when they notice something amiss. And, of course, they must do things more slowly than most. Braces, crutches and wheelchairs automatically hinder fast movement such as walking and running.

However, as Stephanie has shown, all of the above does not in any way mean that children with spina bifida can’t do exactly what they want. They can – they just need to learn to be patient with their bodies and to live life a little differently.

At Stikii Shoes, we believe that every child should live life to their fullest, no matter how difficult their circumstances may be. And we may have found a way to make that happen for children with spina bifida.
Though Stikii Shoes were originally designed for fun and creativity, we quickly found out that they serve to protect the feet AND the spine from injury as well. Furthermore, we discovered that they accommodate braces. Because of this, and because of the sheer fact that Stikii Shoes let every child express their unique personalities everyday, Stikii Shoes, have the ability to change lives.

Check out how kids like Stephanie can benefit from a pair of Stikiis at http://stikii.com/stikii-shoes-and-special-footwear-needs/.