We met Corwin when he was 16 months old. His physical therapist (PT) noticed that he presented with hypotonia, or low muscle tone, and pronation, or flat feet. She suggested Corwin see his local orthotist for an evaluation for Surestep SMOs (supramalleolar orthoses). He had been pulling to stand and cruising for about one month but was not yet taking independent steps. His orthotist watched Corwin stand and cruise and agreed with the PT’s recommendation of SMOs. He took measurements to send to Surestep to create his custom SMOs (he got to pick out his favorite pattern!). Once the SMOs were ready, Corwin came back into the orthotist’s office to be fit and they fit great!

We followed his progress with the SMOs over a 4 month time period. Within the first couple of weeks, he was starting to stand independently and took his first few steps and after having the SMOs for a month, he was walking! After two months, he was standing up from the middle of the floor and squatting to pick up toys. By the end of the 4 months, he was going up and down stairs, walking on uneven surfaces outside and walking quickly (almost running). Corwin started out about 6 months behind his peers and quickly gained gross motor skills and caught up with his peers.

Corwin received physical therapy once a week for an hour throughout the duration of the study. His parents reported that he wore his SMOs 10 hours per day, seven days a week. His parents were thrilled with his success using the Surestep SMOs! He continued to use the SMOs (2 pair total) for a total of 2 ½ years while his foot structure matured and he gained more complex gross motor skills. He is now running and jumping with no orthotic support and keeping up with his friends.