“The ExoSym is a hybrid prosthetic-orthotic device that is custom-made to your individual needs and goals and uses optimal alignment, positioning, off‐loading, and control to help restore mobility. It is a dynamic brace, sometimes called a dynamic exoskeleton, that is a lighter, stronger evolution of the IDEO (Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis).”

Below is an excerpt of an early description I wrote about the ExoSym in early 2017 which is still relevant several years later. As of Spring 2024, I have worn this device (the same one) for 7+ years without much issue. It has been incredibly life-changing and I’m so grateful to have discovered this piece of technology.

This device is not just any leg brace that your doctor could fit you for. Many medical providers have probably never heard of this device before! It functions less like an AFO (ankle foot-orthosis) that braces your body and more like a prosthetic limb. In my own words, the ExoSym is a custom-made, sophisticated (and comfortable!) piece of technology that provides you with the tools to increase mobility and reduce pain to ultimately give you a better quality of life — upon the condition that you put in the time and energy it will take to see results. I never imagined I would be using a mobility aid again, but I'm so happy that I am.

As I am only beginning to understand this device and all of its glorious potential for my own body, I hesitate to say that an ExoSym is right for everyone with cerebral palsy. It's not for everyone, that I am certain of. I would go as far as to say that the ExoSym might work well for those who are already independently mobile and would like to work hard to improve lower extremity function with the goal being: to live a more active, painfree lifestyle. Like any individual no matter their circumstance, we all have manifested CP differently in our own environment and at our own pace.

Some of you might prefer surgery to orthotics, and some of you may hate the idea of putting on a brace again or using assistive devices. And maybe you've never thought that you could run again with how hard walking has become, or you don't really care to be athletic but you just want to get around better! Whether you strive to be the athlete your body won't let you be, or you need to be on your feet all day for work or school, in any case... it never hurts to do your research.