Colin Update 11/6/08

Colin generated movement in his right arm today. During OT, with all his might, he was able to lift his forearm a couple inches off the table. He did it a total of three times during therapy and repeated it for Dr. Henry this evening. It was quite exciting!

I would describe SLT as delicious today. Colin worked his tongue and jaw moving a sucker from cheek to cheek. The therapist showed him how to produce a hard C sound and a hard G sound using the sucker, too. He held the sucker on the front of his tongue and was able to concentrate on using the back of his tongue to produce the C and G sounds. Then she put dots of frosting and sprinkles at various spots on his lips and he had to use the tip of his tongue to lick them off. Then he was better able to control his tongue to make the T, D, and L sounds. See, SLT was delicious!

I did get Colin outside for a little while today. I took his stander out and he stood in it for about 15 minutes. Then he got sad and wanted to go in. I tried to convince him to stay outside and let me push him around in the wheelchair, but he cried harder. He said he wasn’t hurt or in pain, just sad and mad about what has happened to him.

At 4:30 he went off to an activity called Masterpiece. On Thursdays, for 2 hours, they do arts and crafts at this time. Colin has refused to go until today. They were going to bake a Coca-Cola Cake and paint pottery. This obviously peaked his interest because he went without hesitation. At 5:20 he was returned to me in tears. He was so upset that it took a while for me to calm him down. Again he admitted he was just sad and mad about his situation. I tried to find out what happened to set him off, but he didn’t know, or couldn’t identify it.

After dinner, I helped Colin with some homework. And it wasn’t chewing gum or blowing bubbles. Today he was asked to read about forms of government and complete a three page review worksheet. Now, before the ruptured AVM this wouldn’t have been difficult for Colin, but today it took us quite a long time to complete. Colin admitted that he could not yet read long pages in his head. He said he gets confused. So, mom to the rescue: I read the pages to him and he followed along as I pointed to each word. Then, we scratched the idea of writing. The space was too small and he does not write well with his left hand even in big spaces. So, I scribed for him. Next, came the problem of trying to write what he was saying. I had trouble understanding him. It took us a long time, but we did it.

Today was both physically and emotionally draining. I want to thank Cousin Lauren for being so understanding and postponing her visit. Colin was in bed by 8:30 and asleep before 9:00.

Schedule week of 11/1:

For those that have inquired about visiting Colin during the week, his open times are as follows:

Mon. 12-1, 2-4, 4:30-8;

Tues. 10-11, 12-2, 3-8;

Wed. 12-1, 3-8;

Thurs. 12-2, 3-8;

Fri. 12-1, 2-8