Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Wordless Wednesday: Proof of Growth

Inspired by a similar image at Jenelle's Journey:

Image description: a row of six AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics) in ascending order of size (L-R), with various shapes, and various colors of foam inserts and straps).

Further explanation: These are six of my son's AFOs, worn in sequence since 2000. There should be a smallest, seventh pair--his first, fitted in 1998--but those are at the Smithsonian. (I'm not kidding, they really are.) And there will soon be an eighth, biggest pair--he'll be enduring a mold-making session this Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, at the smithsonian--cool :) Great shot, happy WW.

Anonymous said...

At the Smithsonian - I agree, Cool! I am also amazed you've saved all the AFO's. That's quite a collection.
Janet

cripchick said...

i want to hear the story of them being at the smithsonian! how did they get there?

Penny L. Richards said...

Oh--how Jake's first AFOs got into the Smithsonian:

I went to the Society for Disability Studies meeting in 1999, in Washington DC. One of the field trips was a tour of disability history items in the NMAH, hosted by curator Katherine Ott. One of the items was a little boy's leg brace from the 1880s, all iron and leather straps and metal buckles. They caught my eye, because they weren't too different in size from Jake's, except his were custom-molded plastic, foam lining, velcro, polka dots... the contrast was fascinating.

Katherine said that when Jake was done with the AFOs, I should send them to her. But I didn't have to--she was in LA for the Organization of American Historians in 2001, and I handed them to her. Afterwards, we added some pictures of Jake wearing the AFOs, the letter of medical necessity, the insurance denial letter, the orthotist's business card, his first IEP that mentions the braces, etc. So it's a whole little collection of stuff about Jake's AFOs, c.1999. We have the deed of gift around here someplace... ;)

Mike Dorn said...

Great story Penny! It is great to hear the family story behind an important contribution to disability history. Mike

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