Biogen SMA Training (CR)

We hope that with this application we will provide inspiration and advice to those of you who are interested in exercising with people suffering from the neuromuscular disease - spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The app is intended for parents and caregivers of children with SMA and those who have SMA themselves. But also to other people around children with SMA who are involved in their exercise.

The application consists of simple exercises that can be done at home. The exercises are chosen based on the level of function and age. The functional levels we used are the following: whether the child can sit with or without support and whether he has the ability to walk independently (children who cannot sit independently, children who can sit independently, children who can walk independently). The exercises are also intended for certain age groups, but they can also be used if the person exercising is older or younger than the indicated strict age, if it is necessary to practice some movement. Some exercises require the child to understand the instructions, so you will need to make an assessment as to whether an individual exercise is suitable for the child.

The app includes suggestions on how the exercises can be made easier or harder, in case the degree of difficulty needs to be adjusted. We intentionally did not include information about how many times, how long, or how often the exercises should be done. The strength and endurance of the child must be the decisive and leading factors here.

For several exercises, we recommend the use of toys to encourage the child to participate and perform the exercises. Always make sure that the child is able to reach his toy at the end. It is important that the child feels that the necessary effort has its purpose. It is also important that the exercises are safe. Make sure the risks of the child falling are minimized by staying close and ready to provide support if needed. And finally, what is perhaps the most important of all - exercises should be fun!