Inspirational! A Boy with Down Syndrome Learns to Walk through Ballet

UK: Wonderful story about Archie Aspin who learnt how to walk with ballet and how ballet is helping his confidence and even making friends 🙂

We love the photo – it’s absolutely beautiful! #ArchieAspin #Ballet #Confidence #Friendship #DownSyndrome https://t.co/nhNyRNx2Aj

— CMF Foundation (@CMFFoundation) June 1, 2018

When little Archie was born, the Aspins were told that he had Down syndrome and would be different.  They were told he might not ever catch up with his friends.  But his parents, practical as they are, decided to try to make him as independent as possible.  His mom emphasized that she and his dad aren’t going to live forever, and they wanted their son to be able to live well without them.

They knew he’d struggle with motor skills, confidence and social interaction. But when he was just two weeks old, he saw his sister doing ballet and his mother realized it might help him, too.

“Archie came to his sister’s class when he was about two weeks old,” his mother said.  “We saw how much of a benefit [it] was to his sisters – the physical benefits and also the social benefits – and it was a no-brainer that he would join in the classes too. We could see what it would give him.”

And so, he began taking weekly “baby ballet” lessons.  This allowed him to learn how to walk, skip, and jump!  His mom Amanda said these newfound skills and confidence even allowed him to start attending a mainstream school.

The Daily Mail has more from his sweet mom:

‘He’s not been frightened to go up and speak to people, to go up and make friends in the playground,’ Mrs Aspin said. ‘[That’s] because he’s learnt how to initiate conversation by doing it in a dance class with a group.’

She also believes that the social skills he’s picked up in the dance studio will equip him for an independent life in the future.

‘It’s fantastic progress,’ she said. ‘It’s amazing. It’s not just the physical, being able to jump, to try to skip and to hop, it’s the social side of it too.

‘He’s with normal ability peers and he’s accepted in by his friends. They play together before the class, they play together after the class… It’s giving him skills for life.’

‘Our whole aim is to make him as independent as possible so he’s not relying on other people to look after him.

Hat Tip: Daily Mail

Image Credit: Daily Mail Tweet