Anyone have child who wears splints?

[Leanmeangreen]

I've been told my little boy will need to have splints (called AFOs) instead of special boots soon (he currently has Pedro boots). A friend who has a child with splints said finding footwear is a nightmare as they often need a bigger size to fit the splint. Just wanted to see how others managed? What shoes do you recommend - are there any companies who do shoes specially for splints?

You dont need to buy expensive footwear when your child has splints because all the support comes from the splint so trainers from Asda would be fine, just go up a size to accomodate the splint!

Good luck

Agree with inerdmoreparience, DS has been wearing fixed AFO's since he was two and it's only in the last year that we have even considered special shoes, even then we can usually get cheap shoes and get them adapted. He's 10 now and wears splints and shoes with strengthening on the soles.

H and M are good. Especially their high tops, you need lots of space in the toe box area and can usually get more by taking out the insole. It's usually easier to take the insole out of cheaper shoes too.

D's wears school shoes from M+S and cheap spiderman daps from Brentano with his. We size up, and remove the insole (sometimes need to heat up with a hair dryer to soften glue) IMO don't go to Clark's they are rubbish

We bought AFO socks from Sensory Smart shop.sensory-smart.com/afo-kafo--splint-socks-55-c.asp as ds found normal long socks uncomfortable, but he does have sensory issues. They are expensive, but firm favourites and last for ages.

These shoes are manufactured for AFO's but are around £100.

tomcatspecialneeds.co.uk/twisters/

Wow- pricey!!

The orthotist specifically told us to buy cheap shoes and not to worry about support.

My DS2 has worn splints since he was very small, and we found Airwalks trainers (from Sports Direct) perfect as they are wide enough and deep enough to take the afo and they go from kids sizes right up to the huge adult size 11 DS2 is now! We just go one size up.

We were told not to bother with Clarks or other 'better' makes as the afo is doing the support work. Also afos trash the inside of the shoes so we just replace them very frequently.

Agree with PPs. It depends on how wide your DSs feet are to begin with. Look for the widest shoes possible, take out the insole and take the splint not the child shoe shopping. You can also cut out the tongue if needed. It takes a while to find styles that work for your child. Brantano are usually good. Just explain to the staff you are looking for shoes to go over splints and they are usually helpful and don't mind you wandering around trying to stuff a splint into different shoes. They also have good returns unlike sports direct who only give store credit. Good luck