Monday, June 15, 2009

NACD Update!

Today was Grant's 2nd re-eval with NACD. We have these every 3 months, which means a 1 hour drive to Waxahachie, there for roughly 1 1/2-2 hours, and then a 1 hour drive back home. Grant did great today and my prayer for every time we go to something like this is that they will see the "real" Grant. Lyn, who evaluates him, said she can really see progress and change since 3 months ago. Sometimes it's hard to be objective when it comes to progress since we're with him 24/7 but here are a few things he is doing new and for the first time since the beginning of March:
- Grant can say "one" now! (When it came to any number he would previously say "two")
- He can wear rainboots and sandals without tripping! For the past 3 years he has worn only an athletic shoe (99%) of the time because he would trip over his own feet wearing any other type of shoe.
- He can repeat every letter of the alphabet!
- He is playing appropriately with more toys.
- He tries to say anything we ask him, even big words like watermelon and Dalmation.
- He is jumping like crazy, especially when he gets really excited about something he will just start jumping around. It's cute.
- /w/ is /w/ now and not "i yi i".
- He can unscrew and screw a screw using his play screwdiver. This might not sound like that big of deal but if you think about it, this type of activity takes some serious fine motor control!
- He really cries when he gets hurt, like you know by the sound of his cry that he is really hurting. Again, this might sound kind of weird but when your kid cries for literally 5 seconds after falling and getting a big goose egg on his forehead - that is not normal! So through part of the therapy we are doing at home, his body is starting to normalize and he is feeling things the way he should. Consequently, as he is feeling his body more and more, he is falling and tripping less and less! Praise the Lord!
- He is showing more emotion at times when he is sad or really upset. Grant has always been a pretty happy guy, which you would think is great, and for the most part it is - don't get me wrong - but it is also good to show emotion when you are really upset or sad, too! It is really neat to see this side of Grant.

Within the next couple of days we will get his program that will be much the same as the past three months but will be tweaked some according to the progress he is making. Also, a few activities will be added. My goal this summer is getting program accomplished everyday, shooting for 5 out of 7 days. When you think of us, you can pray for me to have patience and kindness towards Grant and discipline in getting program done. You can pray for Grant that he will continue to work really good with me during our "work" time together! Thanks!

2 comments:

Rodriguez_Family said...

Yay, Grant! Congratulations, Melody and Joel. I am so happy to hear about all the progress being made with this program and your hard work. Keep it up!!!

Mikaela said...

So proud of you all. Grant is blessed to have you two as such hard-working, dedicated and patient parents. By God's grace, keep going strong!