with Linda Crabtree

As parents of children with CMT, it isn't easy to know what you should get your child into to make their future with progressive CMT a better place for them to be. I may not be a parent but I'm often asked if it is wise for a person to push their children towards sports. This question always leads to a discussion of what a child could and perhaps should be doing. CMT in children varies a great deal. We are beginning to find out how much we don't know about CMT and that it can show itself at any time.

We also can not generalize that most children are happy and running around because that is not the case. As in everyone, CMT is as individual in children as it is in adults. Some children exhibit only tripping and perhaps toe walking while others experience more profound atrophy, scoliosis or kyphosis of the spine, breathing problems, and hand and foot involvement.

Because it is so important that all children excel at something and that all children socialize with their peers we've put together some things CMT kids can do that won't poop them out and can lead to a better future with CMT. Our thanks to Dr. Charlotte Thompson for sharing some of the literature she has detailing ways that children with atrophied limbs can be active both mentally and physically. We used it as a jumping off point.

One piece of advice I'll share with you. Before you decide that your child might like to do something, ask. Children have their own ideas on many topics and something you think would be fun might not appeal at all to your child. If you set up something for your child to do, let him or her do it. Don't interfere. You know yourself that there is more than one way to do things and your child has to find out his or her way to do something. If the tools are there, chances are they'll use them.

Also, if a child learns to pace himself while doing the things he loves to do, chances are it will carry over into school and work habits. Not wearing yourself out is so important with CMT.

And there is one huge thing I'd like to mention. If a child develops a talent for something they love to do, it can usually be developed into a career. Also, if you know your child has CMT, and I mean he or she has been tested, you can help steer that child away from the career in mechanics or hairdressing that will see him or her have to retrain in mid-life because physically they simply cannot carry on.

We need to give our children every opportunity to find their way into something they'll love and be able to do for a lifetime. Try to steer them towards something that will keep them off their feet and not using their hands all of the time. That means developing brain power. They think and someone else does the physical work - that's the bottom line.

Here are a few of the many things your child could be involved in that will foster learning and perhaps lead to a suitable career.

Art - Having access to a variety of pens, pencils, paints, brushes, hand paints, colored paper, chalks, string, and various mediums such as fabrics and papers in different textures, using bark, grasses, stones and shells, can open a child's eyes to the variety of possibilities around him that can be made into an expression of his feelings in art. This can lead to a career as a fine artist, illustrator, animator, cartoonist, set designer, architect, fashion designer and interior decorator.

Computers - Our children are often way ahead of us on the computer and the field has just begun to open up. When a parent asks me about keeping a child totally involved in sports, I always suggest that they make sure the brain grows along with what muscles can function. The so-called nerds of yesterday are now multimillionaires. Bill Gates was a nerd. No one can fault a child for spending quality time on a computer. Computer games in moderation are changing the eye hand co-ordination speed of an entire generation. Computers can open the world to a child who is physically not able to travel. Every art gallery and library, every medical school and space launch is there for her. A knowledge of and love of computers can lead to a computer business, computer sales, programming computers, writing software, manufacturing hard and software, computer engineering, networking and communications, and a well paying career in the computer sector.

Cooking - This is something a child can learn at their mother or father's side in the kitchen. A love for good food and a knowledge of its preparation can lead to a career as a dietician, nutritional counselor, food service in a hotel, hospital or a restaurant, ordering for chains of hotels, restaurants or grocery stores, writing about food, tasting and critiquing food.

Horticulture - There's such a feeling of satisfaction when you actually see something grow that you've tended yourself. Kids can get such a kick out of having their own little plot in the garden or if they can't get down there, a half a barrel full of dirt will raise leaf lettuce, support pole beans and a couple of nice tomato plants along with a zucchini and squash vine draped over the sides. This can lead to a career in horticulture which can include nursery and greenhouse management, landscaping consultant or designer, scientific crop development and improvement, even orchid breeding. You don't have to farm the land to be involved in horticulture.

Mathematics - If a child excels at mathematics he or she can look forward to a career in engineering, science, research, finance, you name it. There are many reasons why math should be learned as a child, including strategy planning and problem solving.

Music - While it is difficult to predict whether a child will ever be able to play an instrument well or sing well enough to make a living with their voice, it cannot be denied that a knowledge of and love for music makes all of us better people and lightens our lives. While a musician may lose finger dexterity or a singer diaphragm strength, it doesn't stop that person from teaching or writing about skill or sound.

Pets - To learn to live with and take care of a pet not only teaches a child to be responsible for another life, but it can foster a love of animals that lasts a lifetime. As well as veterinary medicine, a love for animals can be made into a career in the fields of training, grooming, boarding, raising, writing about them and showing them.

Photography/videography - give your child a still or video camera and you could end up with a filmmaker, a cameraman at a TV station, an art or fashion photographer, a darkroom technician, someone who makes commercials or puts titles on movies; the field is absolutely huge. Colleges and universities excel in communications courses and indeed, communications seems to be the buzzword for the 21st century.

Science - A huge field. There are many opportunities for a child to excel if he or she is interested in science. It touches on everything from the stars and planets to the how of raising rockets, weather, what we eat and breathe, to how we heat our homes and run our cars and the very bottom of the oceans and beyond. A love for science can lead to a wonderfully fulfilling career that doesn't need legs or hands necessarily.

Social skills - Children who develop their social skills are never afraid to ask questions, to speak up and to be themselves. For the curious child who is interested in everyone and everything they are doing, a career in psychiatry, psychology, counseling, sales, receptionist, customer service representative, switchboard operator, anything that involves listening and talking to people all day.

Sports - So many children want to do well in sports but the more they try the weaker they get because they are pushing themselves beyond what their CMT body can do. However, this doesn't mean a child who loves sports can't take that love and knowledge, and turn it into a career in coaching, writing, photography, illustrating, sportscasting, collecting and compiling statistics, making better products to enhance performance, bringing sports to more people, being an agent and selling a sport or a team or an individual player. You don't have to play the sport to be fully involved in it by any means.

Some sports that people with CMT have been known to excel at are driving, fishing, kite flying, racing model cars, boats and airplanes, horseback riding, archery and marksmanship if the hands are strong enough, and swimming, kayaking and canoeing. In some of these, however, muscles can weaken that will not permit you to function in top form.

Story Telling - This is a wonderful thing to foster in your children. Developing their imagination can lead to a career in the theatre, puppetry, all types of writing, editing art, television, film making, the entertainment field which is growing as the population ages.

Writing- A child can develop a love of writing by simply keeping a journal or corresponding with a pen pal. Writing can be the beginning of a lifelong love of recording events and another wonderful way for your child to learn to express himself. For the few that write best-selling novels there are thousands writing for newspapers, magazines, radio and television, manuals for equipment, school textbooks, scientific journal articles, diaries, songs, poetry, the list goes on. Give your child a blank book and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised.