She listens to music as she works out.
She stands at 32 inches tall.
Luckily, the pediatric treadmill where the 20-month-old from Camp Hill, PA walks is only 32 inches long, 18 inches wide and 7.5 inches high.
Melodie has Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. The pediatric treadmill is a tool proven by research to stimulate the automatic walking response in children with conditions, such as Down syndrome, that traditionally cause motor delays.
"I'm so excited," said Diane Isham, physical therapist with UCP of Central Pennsylvania. "I've wanted to do this for awhile."
Children with Down syndrome usually begin to walk about one year after their typically developing peers, Isham said. The repeated action of walking on the treadmill builds a child's strength and improves both the pattern and quality of their walking, Isham explained.
Research also shows it helps children with Down syndrome walk up to 101 days earlier than those without treadmill training, she added.
Therapists may also use an adult treadmill, at a speed of under a half-mile per hour, to achieve the same result, Isham said. To her knowledge, this is the only pediatric treadmill in the area.
The $1,300 treadmill was purchased with funds from the Jerry and Donna Nailor Fund through The Foundation for Enhancing Communities and the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group.
"We find out that someone in the central Pennsylvania Down syndrome community has a need, and we wanted to find the money so that need could be met," said Brian Guillaume, president of the board of the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group.
An ideal training schedule would be five days a week for eight minutes at a time, but because of the availability of the room at the center, families will have access to the treadmill only four days a week, Isham said.
Fun, too
Children can use the treadmill as soon as they can bear weight on their legs, Isham said, and the treadmill at UCP of Central Pennsylvania includes a suspension system to hold the child up.
Secured in the harness, Melodie looks safe, albeit a little silly, her mother, Wendy Corcoran said. Melodie has been training for about three weeks, and it's obvious that her experience has been fun, and effective, her mother said.
"She oftentimes smiles," Corcoran said. "I see her getting stronger. I see her legs, she moves them more because she knows what to do with them."
Isham offers one training session for families, she said. Families who are interested must go through their physical therapist.
The treadmill and suspension system have also been used to help children with cerebral palsy, an option UCP would like to investigate in the future, Isham said.
"This is one technique in a whole bag of techniques a therapist has," she said.
"If I can build up (Melodie's) strength, it builds her confidence. It builds my confidence as a parent," Wendy Corcoran said. "You know you're doing something to help her in the future."
In Focus
For more information on the pediatric treadmill, contact Diane Isham, UCP Central Pennsylvania physical therapist, at (717) 975-0611.
For more information, about the Central Pennsylvania Down Syndrome Awareness Group, visit their Web site or contact Brian Guillaume, president of the board, at (717) 218-0242.
For more information about this story, please contact Erica Dolson with The Sentinel or Lynda Bowen with UCP of Central Pennsylvania at (717) 975-0611 x253.
Recently, UCPeople reported on the status of hate crimes legislation. On Wednesday, President Obama signed hate crime legislation (H.R. 1913 / S. 909) that extends protection to people with disabilities, among others. The new law expands federal hate crimes protection to include those committed due to gender and gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. It also loosens limits on when federal law enforcement can intervene and prosecute crimes -- the biggest expansion of the civil-rights era law in decades.
Get Podcasts for your MP3 Player
October is coming to an end however I wanted to highlight a few more disability related awareness events that occur each October:
Dae'vionte, nicknamed "Dae" is a loving three year old who is diagnosed with 
Wednesday night's 
Following the Forum, participants joined other invited guests at the 
ABC News Co-Anchor 
