August 29, 2018

To whom it may concern,

My name is Arjuna Soriano and I am the father of Miles Soriano, a participant in the CATCH adaptive climbing program at the Stronghold Climbing Gym.

Miles has a neurological condition called Dandy-Walker. His cerebellum, the part of his brain that controls global motor movement and coordination, is a third of the size of normal. This severely limits his physical dexterity. He is 9 years old and unable to walk unassisted. He has decent use of his upper body although his movement is jerky and a little uncontrolled at times and he has limited control of his trunk and his legs.

The CATCH adaptive climbing program is the highlight of our week and it has been a wonderful resource for Miles in a few different ways.

Physically, he is forced to coordinate all of the parts of his body. He needs to purposefully control the position and placement of his trunk and his feet in order to be able to climb.

He has made many physical advancements since starting the program. He is now able to walk while only holding one of my hands with much more confidence. His stamina for walking and swimming has also improved. He can now swim the entire pool in his swim therapy class.

Emotionally, he has very few opportunities to physically accomplish something on his own. Swim class is great because he can swim unassisted but the adaptive climbing program allows him to scale a very tall wall. This invaluable in boosting his self-confidence and giving him a sense of achievement and the impact of this is immeasurable.

Dave and the volunteers are wonderful with Miles and have encouraged him to achieve beyond what he thought was possible just a few short months ago.

My family is grateful for this wonderful resource and look forward to all of the great things that Miles will do in the program.

Sincerely,
Arjuna Soriano