Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Red Light, Green Light

image Yesterday I arrived at Allie's school to find her standing in this walker. All the kids who could stand with this kind of assistance were. They were playing red light, green light. In this picture, Allie has a green light and Mary is helping her go.

Most of the kids in Allie's school have difficulty talking. They're all vocal, mind you, but making intelligible words is the hard part. So they teach the kids to use a switch box. The switch box wires speakers and big buttons together. In this case, one button is programmed with "green light, go!" and the other, you guessed it, "red light, stop!"

You remember the game from recess, right? Well, at Allie's school, they're using the game to teach the kids to walk and interact. It was a hoot to watch. But it made me want to cry a little to see these kids having so much fun yet struggling so hard to do the things I take for granted. It's a whole new world for me.

I must say that these teachers are amazing; heroic. They are so dedicated to the success of these kids. Their hope is infectious. That also makes me want to cry a little.

After Allie made it across the room, it was her turn to man the switch box. She had so much fun pushing those buttons and making the other kids go and stop at her beckoning.

The walking part is really difficult for her and she struggles so hard to do it. I'm amazed at what she's learning and doing. What a fighter.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

A Full Week of School

image Allie made it through her first FULL week of school. The week she started school (almost a month ago), Thursday was her first day. The next week she was sent home sick on Monday and never made it back. The following week started with Labor Day making it a short week with a sick day in the middle cutting it shorter still. This week started strong on Monday and finished even better on Friday.

Everything is different now. We used to drop off and pick up a crying little girl. Now she's happy to be at school. She's off the bottle. She makes sounds trying to talk. She says "hi" when the teacher says to. She sits plays by herself for extended periods of time. They're potty-training her.

For the first time in two and a half years, we feel like we can breathe again. The teachers at her school are reaching for goals we never knew were possible. And Allie is learning and getting with the program.

We have more hope now than we've ever had.

When Allie was first introduced to physical therapy, the goals that were set were aggressive, but always out of reach. It was exhausting for all three of us. But now, the three of us are on Cloud Nine. There's momentum; there are results. We feel like we're finally hitting our stride.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Allie in the Park Video

Here are a few more clips of Allie having fun at Kelsey Park with Mary the Physical Therapist.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Arc in the Park

Saturday Allie's school, Arc Potentials hosted an event at Kelsey Park in Lake Park. The school needs to fund raise and they had tons of fun with this one.

Below are some pictures and some video. Mary, Allie's physical therapist, grabbed Allie and introduced her to the dog you'll see in the photostream as well as the video. Allie loves this pooch which ain't cool because I'm not too good with pets.

I think the Charming and Beautiful Susan had more fun with this puppy than Allie did. More bad news for me.

And below, we're gathered around the swings. Aaron needs an attitude adjustment.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

New Routine

I'm not sure what to be. Sad or happy. On the one hand, we drop Allie off at school and the separation anxiety of parent and child is excruciating. On the other hand, the Charming and Beautiful Susan and I have not had any time away from Allie in over two years except on about three very rare occasions. So now we can (and are) getting reacquainted with each other.

The day works like this: we get Allie ready for school knowing we'll have time on our hands to really get things done. And we're excited. Then we get her dressed, and reality hits us: Oh no! we have to give her to somebody else. We put her in the stroller and it feels like we're just going for our morning walk. Then I'm driving in the car and I almost (I said almost) burst into tears knowing she's going to have to figure out how to get along without me. I turn into the parking lot at school, get her into her stroller again, steel my nerves, and roll her through the double doors. I park her with the other kids. And it hits me: I get to leave her here! And, like Flash, I'm a streak of light bolting out the door.

The guilt never seems to catch up with me. I leave it in the parking lot and enjoy time with my wife or dig into projects at work with blessed few interruptions. Allie's attendance at school has lifted a huge burden from our shoulders. We know she's in good hands and is improving every day. The guilt and sadness over leaving her is diminishing more quickly than we imagined.

This is video of Allie in her new, cheap highchair. This is her third high chair. It's not easy to find one for a three year old.

In the picture below, you can see where I got busy with a drill, saw, and razor blade to modify this chair and install a strap. In the video above, she's strapped in with a belt from my closet.

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In this picture Allie is standing tall. The pink vest she's sporting was given to her at school. It stabilizes her torso and keeps her back straight and head up. She is also wearing ankle braces shoved into over sized tennis shoes. She practices walking in physical therapy at school.

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imageThis is how we found Allie today when we arrived to pick her up this afternoon. Usually when I walk in, I listen for my crying little girl and hone in on her howls. She's used to taking a nap at eleven so by her 12:15 pick up time, she's done. Today, we walked in and she was in front of this computer monitor glowing with brightly colored backgrounds and animated soap bubbles floating across the screen. Allie uses her hands to trace their track trying to touch them.

Fixed to the frame of her stroller/chair was a big red button (like and "Easy Button") within reach of her right hand. When Allie sits for awhile in her chair, she starts fussing. A teacher will then start rocking her in her chair to calm her. She likes the movement. So this button is connected to a speaker that says, "rock me, please." So instead of fussing, Allie just pushes the button. I was amazed that she got this in just one morning. She can't talk, but she can use the button to communicate.

Ever since our first interview when we got back to town, these educators thought Allie had the aptitude for this kind of communication. It's good to see that they were correct and that Allie easily grasps the basics of communicating with those around her.