Kevin's Healing Journey

Monday, August 1, 2016

Pittsburgh

We enjoyed some of Pittsburgh's attractions while we were visiting family for my cousin's wedding. We had a big group of 17 as we did the Ducky Tour on land and water, we rode the infamous Incline, and had lunch in Station Square. Kevin and the kids even had fun riding the trolley into downtown.

Vacation Bible School

Kevin participated in VBS for the first time this year with 109 kids. This was a very new experience for him (and me), he adjusted and adapted (so did I), and I am so very proud of him! He didn't last the entire first day but we only had to leave about an hour early. But by Wednesday, he wasn't even wearing the noise-cancelling headphones. He did well in the opening and closing which could get very loud and even tolerated some very loud microphone feedback. He enjoyed going to Bible Adventures and the Video group with skits and science experiments and some of his favorite people. We normally joined in the music group twice because he loved it so much and skipped games which he didn't have much interest in - except on the day they did the parachute - which was so much fun! We are so grateful for the people of our church and the new experiences we had with the new friends we made this week. Thank You!

Cousin for a Week

Kevin's 13 year old cousin spent a full week with us. She was VERY helpful and we REALLY enjoyed having her stay with us. We hope she will come back again.

Kevin's happy his cousin is here

Walking around the block

She made us dinner!

Lots of smoothies

Rolling lots & lots of snack balls

She was REALLY busy in the kitchen all week

Morning Snuggles

Round and round the Overlook

At least there is proof that she wasn't in the kitchen the whole time

And I even got my pedicure!

Kevin's FAVORITE Snack

We make a big batch of these and freeze them.

Snack Balls/ Energy Bites

4 cups - gluten free oatmeal

2 cups - ground flaxseed

1 cup - coconut flakes

1 cup - coconut oil

2 cups - sunbutter (16 oz jar)

1 cup - honey (8 oz jar)

4 tsp - vanilla

2 packs - dried unsweetened cherries

Mix together, chill for an hour, roll into balls, store covered in fridge or freezer

Touch a Truck

A warm day at Touch a Truck with Kevin's Aunt & Cousin who LOVED all the construction trucks!

For Grandpa!

Most sweat beads I've ever seen on Kevin

More Niagara Falls 2016 Photos

My Blog

This blog was created to keep our family and friends updated on Kevin's healing journey. It is also our hope that others may find this blog to give help and hope to other delayed kids.

About Kevin

They told us Kevin would never walk or talk. But with lots of prayers, hard work, and extra hands, he began walking when he was four years old and we continue to have faith and hope as we wait patiently for his speech to develop. Kevin is now eight years old. He is diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy due to a brain-injury he had before birth that was caused by a stroke. In 2006, before Kevin was 2 years old, we found Glenn Doman’s book "What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child" that had answers to help children with special needs and developmental delays. We began an individualized home treatment program for Kevin immediately and have been dedicated to our program ever since. We spent three years with the Doman family at The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP) and now we are with Matthew and Carol Newell at The Family Hope Center (FHC). Twice a year we return to Philadelphia where Kevin receives a neurological evaluation to determine the progress he has made in the last six months. Then they provide us with an individualized, program that puts me in charge to help Kevin develop and reach his fullest potential.

Do You Know a Delayed Child?

The best recommendation we can give to another parent with a special needs or developmentally delayed child (brain-injured, brain-damaged, mentally retarded, mentally deficient, cerebral-palsied, epileptic, autistic, athetoid, hyperactive, attention deficit disordered, developmentally delayed, or down's) is to read Glenn Doman's book What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child and/or Dr. Coralee Thompson and Dr. Philip Maffetone's book Healthy Brains, Healthy Children. By simply reading these books, you will gain valuable information to help your child which will begin to unlock the potential your child has. And best of all you will learn that there are other options to helping your child that you can do yourself. We would also highly recommend attending the parent course at FHC or IAHP. To read how our journey began and the successful progress Kevin has had refer to the January 2010 blog archive.