Health and Wellness: Building the Foundation for a Meaningful Life

Over time, health became one of the most important foundations in Benji and Giulietta’s lives, not because it stands alone, but because it directly shapes how they are able to participate in everyday life. When people think about independence, health is often seen as separate from learning, communication, or community involvement.

For Benji and Giulietta, it is what makes all of those things possible in the first place.

Health is not something separate from daily life or treated as an isolated focus. For Benji and Giulietta, who live with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and experience low muscle tone, sensory processing differences, and regulation needs, health is shaped through small, consistent routines that support how their bodies and nervous systems move through the day.

Health plays a direct role in participation. When sleep is consistent, nutrition is supported, movement is part of daily life, and routines are in place, there is a noticeable difference in how Benji and Giulietta are able to engage with work, community activities, communication, and learning.

Movement is a big part of this. It is built into everyday life. Time at the gym, farm, working at IKEA, volunteering, horseback riding, walking in the community, and hands-on activities all naturally create opportunities for heavy work, resistance, and full-body engagement. These are the kinds of experiences that support regulation, coordination, and body awareness in a way that sitting in structured exercise sessions often does not.

Nutrition is approached in the same way. Over time, nutrition has become connected to so many other parts of life, including grocery shopping, meal planning, and being involved in everyday routines in a real and practical way. For Benji and Giulietta, this includes being actively involved in grocery shopping for their family, choosing fruits and vegetables, comparing options in the store, and being part of decisions about what we are going to make.

It also includes looking up simple recipes together and using those ideas to guide meals they want to try. In the kitchen, learning is fully individualized and adapted to their needs. This includes using adapted knives and vegetable cutters so they can safely take part in food preparation, building confidence and independence through hands-on tasks that are meaningful to them.

Over time, nutrition has become less about a separate “skill being taught” and more about being part of everyday life. At its core, this is about giving Benji and Giulietta the opportunity to take part in everyday life in a way that makes sense for them, while building independence in real situations they actually use day to day.

Supporting Blogs:

• Benji’s Daily Stretching, Fitness, and Pilates Routine: Building Strength, Balance, and Independence

• Occupational Therapy: Building Skills and Resilience Through Motor Apraxia Challenges

• Speech Therapy: From Oral Aversion to Meaningful Communication Through Alternative Methods

• Physical Therapy: From Traditional Methods to Daily Active Living

• Through MEDEK Therapy and Integrating Movement into Daily Activities

• Giulietta's Motor Apraxia Required Creative Adaptation of OT Principles