Vacation Appreciation

We had a fantastic summer vacation at Myrtle Beach with Kevin’s Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.  All 14 of us stayed in a condo on the beach…just like we did four years ago.  One of the best parts of this vacation was appreciating how far Kevin has come in those four years.

Four years ago (Kevin was four years old) we took a break from Kevin’s program for the summer.  We had been working hard and were dedicated to our program every day for three years and he had achieved many victories along the way…Kevin was seizure free, crawling, creeping, and the long awaited and coveted walking victory.  After Kevin achieved the ability to walk…our focus quickly shifted to other important goals such as speech and the sometimes difficult to measure, behavior and social aspect of his development. 

Kevin is now eight years old and there are some days that I get discouraged when I think about how much more we want to accomplish with Kevin.  But then an opportunity arises when my whole family has a chance to look back and reflect on what that beach vacation was like with Kevin four years ago and clearly see the positive progress that Kevin has made that makes our life better.  The biggest change we all noticed was how on our last vacation, Kevin had been so difficult to transition from the condo to the beach without a fit because he had to walk by the car in the garage and the pool before reaching the beach.  This year, he couldn’t wait to get down to the beach and walk into the ocean to have the waves crash into him or just chill out on a beach chair with his Dad, he even liked playing in the sand.  But mostly the overall feeling (especially for me) was that it was just easier…Kevin was more flexible, he was not entirely focused on his obsessions, he interacted more with the family, and he was happy to be there with everyone.  In fact, after we returned home, Kevin wanted to look through the family photo albums and he purposefully chose the album from our beach vacation four years ago.  I’m not sure if he is comparing the progress he has made (like we were) or he just wanted to see his cousins again and go back to the beach, but I do know that we both feel renewed and positive as we begin our program again.  We are excited to see what changes we will see at the end of this summer.  I can truly say that this was in fact a vacation…I just hope we don’t have to wait four more years before we go back to the beach!    

1, 2 Buckle My Shoe...3, 4 Shut the Door

ONE, TWO BUCKLE MY SHOE

Red White & Blue New Shoes

and the best part is we only had to buy one pair...both shoes are the same size!

THREE, FOUR SHUT THE DOOR

Recently, Kevin and I figured out a way for him to get himself into his car seat with very minimal help.  In addition to this, I also began asking him to close the house door as he walks into the garage to get into the car.  Sometimes the door is too far ajar for him to reach the doorknob to pull it shut...so Kevin figured out that there was enough room for him to carefully slide his fingers under the door to pull it towards him so that he could grab the doorknob and pull it shut.  I love watching him figure out creative solutions to participate and help out in every day life.  I just hope that those fingers stay safe.

Kevin likes the Dirt!

Our first Vegetable Garden! My brother has been telling us for years that we should turn our backyard into a big vegetable garden. When he first started mentioning it we had no extra time to try to tend and grow a garden during the early years of Kevin's intense program.  Then a couple years ago I started keeping some herbs in a planter off the front porch.  And then last year I added a cucumber plant.  So this year, I felt ready to try a real vegetable garden.  We took Kevin's old wood carpeted bumpers that he used to crawl over and turned them into a raised vegetable garden.  It was true, that we did not have much time to tend to a garden before now, but another truth is that I had always envisioned keeping the backyard open so one day Kevin could play outside.  So you can imagine my delight when we were filling up the raised bed with dirt and Kevin was very happy playing with his Mickey Mouse shovel and digging in the dirt.  Kevin is a real boy...he likes the dirt!  So who knew...that the backyard I envisioned Kevin playing in has come to life. Thanks Steve! 

 

 

 

Kevin's Dad's 40th Birthday Surprise

I LOVE The Birthday Boy & Kevin's Dad is 40

 

Lordy Lordy

Look who's Forty

You sure will look Sporty

And be in your Glory

But by Sunday Morning

All you will have is an

Unforgettable Story

It's a little bitty Party

because only two will Fit

Driving around in a 

Borrowed Corvette

Colon Hydro-Therapy

In my recent revisit summary, I mentioned that in April Kevin had his first session of Colon Hydro-Therapy or also called a colonic or colon-cleanse (not a colonoscopy). 

Colon Hydro-Therapy is a safe and gentle process to cleanse the colon or large intestine with warm purified water of accumulated waste materials and toxins without the use of laxatives or drugs.  As you know, Kevin has struggled with elimination and digestion for many years so it is likely there is a buildup of waste creating more toxins in his body.  Our constant goal is to get better and more regular elimination and improved digestion from Kevin.  It was explained to us that the large intestine or colon works like a muscle and by stimulating with Hydro-Therapy it will re-train and improve the bowel function.  This is exactly what we need for Kevin.

In April we took Kevin to Columbus (a two hour drive) for his first colonic.  It had been difficult finding someone to do a child for this procedure and another family had recommended this place in Columbus.  I was pretty anxious about it because I was not sure what to expect.  I brought a bag full of extra supplies trying to prepare for the unexpected and a two hour drive home afterwards.  Stress never helps any situation.  It took Kevin 10 minutes to finally eliminate the water that was introduced into his system, and we were only having a 30 minute session.  We had to use a vibrating massager on his belly to help him release.  He eliminated a lot of waste and in the end we were pleased with the results. 

After our revisit with FHC, they recommended that we continue to have more sessions but try to find a provider closer to us to avoid the two hour drive.  I found a person in Medina (only a 45 minute drive) who has advanced certification and we feel much more comfortable with, we even like the colonic table system much better.  Kevin receives a 45 minute session and she stays in the room the whole time and massages Kevin’s belly to help him release.  Kevin is quite comfortable during the procedure and watches a show on his DVD player to keep him entertained.  Kevin had a very good session and it was recommended that we have a total of 6 sessions, initially.  Kevin had sessions 2 consecutive days the first week and another 2 consecutive days the following week, and one session each the two weeks following.  When we were driving home after the first session, Kevin was very verbal!  I had not noticed that his verbal sounds had decreased somewhat since our revisit, but the colon cleanse seemed to help improve this again for him.  It is expected that after a colonic session, it may take 3 days to eliminate (which did happen after the session in Columbus, so no worries on the drive home), but Kevin has been having daily bowel movements since starting the Colon Hydro-Therapy with no help from any kind of stimulate we have had to use in the past.  We will likely have to continue on a maintenance program to keep things going but hopefully we will be able to decrease our sessions to once a month or less at some point.

We are very pleased with the results we are seeing from the Colon Hydro-Therapy and would highly recommend it to anyone who has similar issues.  We hope this will continue to help improve Kevin’s elimination and digestion.  If you have an interest in finding out more about Colon Hydro-Therapy or would like to find a provider near you go to www.i-act.org

Trouble-Maker or Problem-Solver

In the few weeks that we have been home since our revisit, Kevin has found some clever new ways to entertain himself, that have been driving us crazy!  It seems as if another shift is happening in Kevin by the examples we have recently witnessed that I guess could be a good sign.  As you know, his favorites are ceiling fans, running water, and lights.  Despite our best efforts, Kevin is continually trying to find ways to get to these items.  In fact, when we are walking in the neighborhood, Kevin can easily spot a ceiling fan that is turned on in a house as we walk by on the sidewalk.  When we are visiting a house or store for the first time Kevin traipses all over until he finds a ceiling fan and the switch to control that ceiling fan.  If we return to that house or store, you can be sure he will remember where the ceiling fan is located.  Here at home, we have door knob guards on many of our doors, one being the bathroom door, but just this week he discovered that he can easily remove the child proof guards from the door knob so that he can open and shut the bathroom door to play with the water at the sink.  We recently got a new kitchen faucet and until now Kevin had not paid much attention to it, but he quickly figured out how the new faucet turns on and off and he is now tall enough to reach the light and fan on the microwave oven above the stove – I didn’t even know that he knew that was there, because we never use it.  So now he loves to go back and forth between the kitchen faucet and microwave turning buttons on and off.  Then the other night, after we put him to bed, we heard him moving around in his room quite a bit.  Jon went up to check on him to find that Kevin had pushed his big blue recliner chair to the middle of his bedroom so that he could stand up on it to reach his ceiling fan.  Jon had to tuck the ceiling fan chains up inside the light fixture so that he won’t be able to reach them…for now.   And did you hear about the evening we were out doing errands?  We had to drive by the mall (where the video was taken of him walking to see the ceiling fan at the cookie store).  He began whining because he saw the mall and wanted to go to the mall, but we stopped at a store that was across from the mall.  When Jon got Kevin out of the car, Kevin began darting across the parking lot with the full intention of getting to the mall.  Jon quickly caught up with him and Kevin was not too happy about going into our store so we quickly finished our business and the rest of our errands were cut short.

But then at the end of the day, as we snuggle on the couch and watch a show before bed, Kevin typically puts his good right arm around my neck to snuggle and give me hugs, but this week he began using BOTH arms and holding BOTH hands together as he gives me HUGS!!!  What trouble-maker?…I don’t remember any trouble.  Kevin is the best boy in the world!

Remembering Glenn Doman

This lovely write up on Glenn Doman was posted by the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential at www.iahp.org

Glenn Doman often said that mothers are the best teachers the world has ever seen, and the parents that he inspired and taught continue to prove that each day. Champion of every child on earth, he never gave up on any child, and his dream of better kids for a better world lives on.

When Glenn founded The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in 1955, he was a young physical therapist who, as an infantryman, had led his men through World War II. He had seen men destroyed on the battlefield and set about to save people. At this point, Glenn had begun to formulate the groundbreaking concept that brain injury is in the brain-not the arm, leg, or foot-and that brain growth and development is dynamic and ever-changing, a concept broadly accepted today as neuroplasticity.

Sitting on his mother's lap, Glenn learned to read before he went to school. His philosophy of learning was shaped by love and nurturing, and he always remembered that mothers were the key to the future.

Glenn said that, aside from his parents, the Boy Scouts were the greatest influence on him as a boy. "Primarily it taught me ethics," he said. He embraced the Boy Scout motto, which in addition to duty to God and country, includes helping other people at all times.

The other great influence on him was the war, and like the Scouts, he explained, it taught him "comradeship, decency, and respect for your fellow man."

When Glenn founded The Institutes, it was with awe and respect for adults who were paralyzed by strokes. "I found that given the opportunity they were courageous people, to be admired."

The same was true of brain-injured children and their families, he learned. Glenn's discoveries about how the brain develops allowed parents to keep their children at home and give them the opportunity to be well.

Glenn loved nothing more than being with children, who flocked to him and his Santa Claus demeanor. The comparison was made with merit, not only for his appearance but also for his warmth, generosity, and joviality.

In his early years, Glenn's mentor was Dr. Temple Fay, who taught him to look beyond the obvious and to question traditional concepts. Dr. Fay admired the brain as a work of art, and Glenn was his best student.

Glenn and his staff traveled the globe to study how children grow and develop. The result was The Institutes Developmental Profile, the first and only document that shows the stages of brain development and provides a functional diagnosis. Once an accurate Profile is made, that Profile provides a road map to create an effective program to treat the brain.

The concept of neurological organization followed, and programs were carefully developed to provide enhanced sensory stimulation and increase motor opportunity in recognition of the orderly way in which the brain grows.

By the early '60s, Glenn had hundreds of two-, three-, and four-year-old hurt kids who were reading and comprehending what they read well beyond their age. This led Glenn to ask, "Why aren't well kids as well as they ought to be?" A new chapter opened as Glenn realized that well kids were not getting the stimulation and opportunity they needed to achieve their full potential.

Glenn believed that parents were the answer to the world's problems and that children could learn absolutely anything that could be taught in an honest, factual, and joyous way.

He believed that mothers and fathers and children belonged together.

Once, many years ago, someone who did not agree with Glenn's ideas about early learning said of him, "All Glenn Doman is doing is driving mothers and babies closer together."

Well, it is not all that Glenn did in his long and highly productive life, but he often said, "Put that on my tombstone, make that my epitaph: He drove mothers and babies closer together, and I will rest well."

Millions of parents around the world have been influenced by the work of this great man. The world is a better place because of his life. His devoted staff will miss him deeply every minute of every day, but, like Glenn, they will never give up. They will continue to fight the good fight to ensure that hurt children have a fighting change to be well and well kids have a fighting change to be better.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Founder's Fund, c/o The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, 8801 Stenton Avenue, Wyndmoor, PA 19038 or donate online here.

If you would like to share your thoughts and fond memories of Glenn with his family and the staff of The Institutes, send an email to rememberglenn@iahp.org