Splints and school shoes

[pintsize]

Not sure if I've asked this one before? My dd wears orthotic splints on both legs. She currently has trainers - cheap supermarket ones as they seem to be the only footwear we can get to fit over them. DD starts school in Sept and really wants shoes "like her friends". I have told her she will have, but am starting to worry I'm going to let her down as I don't know where I am going to get them from. Also her shoes need adapting once we find ones that fit so we have around 3 pairs on the go as there is always a pair being repaired. Anyone any ideas?

I find that velco shoes fit over splints. DS and DD1 both wear them, brought some school shoes for dd1 from shoezone last week. I just go into the shoes ask them to measure the splints and then we just try on pair after pair.

My DS has splints and I spent ages finding a pair of school shoes (Clarks in the end), after 3 weeks the school asked me to send him in trainers because they couldn't put his shoes on over his splints, strange that ... I could!!

I've had no end of near-crying fits in shoe shops over this as I try to stuff dd's feet into shoes that were woefully too inflexible. We ended up in Clarks as well, with t-bar shoes, on the recommendation of her physio after I rang her in tears. The t-bars barely fastened and the toes were a bit tight. I just said 'This is what we've got - can't do any better' to the physio and the guy who made the splints took the shoes away and stretched the toes so the splints fit in. He also put the little insoles for her heels in underneath the shoe lining, which was pink so dd didn't want to lose it. And if the velcro bit doesn't quite stretch over, you can always get a cobbler to put a little bit more on.

So yes, Clarks. Not as cheap as Barratts, but what can you do? I spend a lifetime rubbing shoemagic into them to stop them getting scuffed as she scrapes them on the pavement. Actually I'm a bit of a shoe obsessive thanks to these splints. She does look just like her friends though in her little shoes, so good news there.

how old is your dd? what are her difficulties? I'm only asking because I'm thinking a couple of years down the line I'd like dd to have a few little online friends with similar problems to her, since now she is at school she's realising how different she is. She has cerebral palsy affecting her balance and walking (she walks with a frame) and fine motor skills.