15/04/2026
This time, a discussion with a mother at Tender Touch Paediatric Rehab. We were chatting while observing her child, who can now walk and attend school. However, the walking pattern is not yet optimal.
So my role is to help improve the child’s walking by strengthening the muscles, improving balance, and enhancing posture.
What approach do I use? I incorporate crawling and kneeling to refine and improve the walking posture. That’s what we discussed—I shared how grateful I am to have a mother like her, who understands, trusts, and believes in what I am trying to do. Sometimes, we need to regress in order to progress. The goal of training through crawling is not to take away the ability to walk, but to improve the quality of walking.
Crawling strengthens the body muscles, legs, and knees, while also stimulating the brain through left-right coordination. We can clearly see the results in this child. Day by day, the child becomes better at stabilizing the body, and when walking, gains a better understanding of the function of the knees and their role in movement. This makes it easier for me to progress further toward running and jumping later on.
But therapy, no matter what, is not magic. It cannot be achieved in a day, a week, or even a month. It takes years. However, consistency leads to more lasting outcomes. That is what truly matters—not achieving something today only to lose it tomorrow. This is because we are not just working with muscles, but also with the brain. InshaaAllah, patience is beautiful.
Hope this is beneficial.
Sharfiza Abdul Aziz
Tender Touch Paediatric Rehab