Don't settle for shoes for AFOs - MODify the ones she wants!

Mod the Crap Outta Them Shoes!

It was immediately clear the shoes would be tight in their current form.

 Most of you reading this will know that my daughter, Campbell, has Rett Syndrome, and she also wears AFOs to keep her feet straight while she still tries to make gains in walking.

 She's got enough to deal with, and with back-to-school season here, I wanted her to wear the shoes she picked out. She settles for enough, and I'll be darned if my Super-girl won't at least get her shoes.

 I picked up two pair of shoes for her, pink, sparkly, and they light up when she takes steps. Knowing her, and how much she loves making things happen, this was an ideal combination. I got the shoes, and went to work...

Insoles: The easy bit.

 The nice man(whom Campbell had a bit of a crush on) who made her AFOs said it would be fine to get regular shoes, just take the insoles out. Easy peasy.

 For her standard, lace-up shoes, it worked. Unfortunately, AFOs going in and out of those shoes frayed the laces in no time at all.

 These shoes were a little more fancy than that, and needed more room to stretch and grow.

The stretchy, lacy bit HAS to go.

 These bits had to get cut. Snip right down to the base of the loops. On one shoe, the fabric left a small gap that would get bigger with use, so I closed it with a little flexible hobby glue. A hot glue gun or rubber cement would work as well. Be warned: You don't need a lot.

 NOW, her foot will go in just fine, but the velcro won't close evenly. So...

When the tang gets toungled up...

Where the tongue meets the shoe, undo

Don't be a-frayed. Snip it clean. Don't let it rub on her feet!

 Now, we get to the fun part. The tongue on these was just too puffy. It had to go. With scissors in hand, I valiantly snipped the snot out of the threads connecting the tongue to the rest of the shoe. On one, I didn't do it so neatly, so the frayed bits required just a little more snipping.

Now, my hero is ready!

Now, she's ready to save the world in style.

 It's a little extra work, but it only needs to be done the one time. Your girl gets her shoes, not whatever "medical" shoes they will allow her, but something fun. And much more appropriate for my little superhero.