Hitting The Slopes

Fun and Functional Treatment

Sofia Tomek, age 8, was born with cerebral palsy, specifically spastic dyplegia which causes stiffness in her legs, and difficulty with balancing and walking. Sofia has participated in physical therapy at Cioffredi & Associates since she was four years old. The whole staff has greatly enjoyed watching her grow and accomplish her goals. She brings a special joy to our clinic with her love for life and infectious giggle.

Her mom, Sheri wrote “Rebecca Swope has been working with Sofia and always comes up with creative ways to make therapy fun. During the month of December 2014, the staff at Cioffredi’s introduced an Elf on the Shelf (Elfie) which Sofia had to discover at the beginning of each session and then show how hard she could work!” This activity was not only fun and functional for Sofia, but the staff here had a blast watching her on the hunt for Elfie. You can see some of the photos of the things Elfie was doing on our Facebook page.

Just recently Sofia had her first adaptive ski lesson at Mount Sunapee. Rebecca joined in to observe both for moral support and so that she could implement balance and strengthening exercises into her PT program that will help with her with skiing.

“Seeing Rebecca there gave Sofia extra confidence and she was thrilled. I am sure it is just the beginning of a lifetime love of skiing. The team at Cioffredi’s are wonderful at making Sofia feel at home, give her encouragement and make her excited to be there. Thank you so much for all you have done for her, and giving her the tools to accomplish her goals in the future.”

To find out more about the New England Handicapped Sports Association, or learn how to volunteer, visit www.nehsa.org