Brief Weekly Update

Ok, it's been over a week since I have gotten back here and a few noteworthy things have happened mixed in with all the everyday stuff, so I thought I would write a quick update of our past week...since we are already half way through this one! Well, as I said, on Wed. Bryce was evaluated for an aug com device. They have to test the child with 4 different versions to see which one would work the best for him (to prove to the insurance companies that he actually does need what we are asking for and to show that he is able to use the one we choose). The most common ones use buttons or switches that the child presses when he sees what it is he wants to say. Well, they tried these with Bryce and they didn't work too well because of his limited physical ability. Then they tried the Tobii C12. OH MY GOSH! IT WAS AMAZING! Ok, I'll stop yelling, but this thing was so perfect for Bryce. It is controlled by eye gaze. Seriously incredible! Too much detail to go into all of it now, but let's just say it opened a whole new world for Bryce. His regular therapist was there as well as the three others that were administering the tests and she was about in tears. I was at moments. Let me tell you, that boy may not have the physical abilities that the rest of us do, but he is one smart cookie! Not only was he able to maneuver his way through the different sections, but he was playing around with us and it as well. He would find things he liked and stick with that instead of going where he was "suppose" to go, although we knew that he knew what he was suppose to be doing, because he would briefly hit the right section with his eyes and then move on to what he wanted to do or hear, grinning the entire time! Just one quick example was a time when he was suppose to find pictures of Winnie the Pooh. He found him right away multiple times and then saw Miss Piggy. Well, he discovered that when he looked at Miss Piggy, the device would say, "Do I look like Pooh?", which I of course thought was hilarious for other reasons, but Bryce seemed to like that one because he would briefly look at Pooh and then back to Miss Piggy until it said that again. He also played a matching game and was able to find the matches very easily when all he had to do was "turn the cards over" with his eyes. Anyway, I'm finding it really hard to describe what the device was like exactly, but once he gets his...major finger crossing going on here...I will definitely be getting some video and showing everyone what it is like. Bryce became so physically fatigued while doing the evaluation and yet he still did not want to stop. He just keep pointing to the thing as the therapists were packing everything up. Once they were gone though, he was in the best mood the rest of the day. I truly believe it was because of that short time of freedom and expression that he had. We now have to wait to see if insurance will approve it and they say that could take up to 2-3 months! Oh the waiting kills me, but hopefully the device will get approved for Bryce and be here before Thanksgiving!

Also, I can't remember when we talked to Bryce's neurologist, but he called and said that the last MRI that Bryce had done, did not show any new loss of white matter. So that was great news!

Thursday night we had curriculum night at the boy's school. They seem to have pretty good teachers this year although they all seem to like using the "no recess if you misbehave" incentive/punishment. Personally, I think that is lame. I mean really, if a kid is having a hard time sitting still and listening, in my opinion what they need is a good run. Make them move. Let out some steam and then come back and refocus. They already have so much sitting time, it just seems like there are so many other ways of handling that which would be better. Actually that night there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not sure if it was just my attitude about it or what, but we'll just see how things go. Overall, I really like the school where the boys go. Not ready to pull them out quite yet I guess.

Friday was early release day so the kids were all home by noon. It was nice to have a little extra time with them that day. Then Saturday we went van shopping. We drove a few and decided on one that we think will work for us. John really does not like dealing with dealerships, so we didn't go that route for long. This van that we got (it actually came home with us today) was a good deal. It seems like it will meet our needs and it won't totally break the bank. It's very nice inside and has a DVD player which was the selling point for the boys. It is really long and has some lame looking footsteps on it, but hopefully I will get used to that! Or we may just get rid of the foot step thingies eventually and put a real step on it. It was actually really easy to drive and turn around and everything when I drove it, but I think it is just going to take some getting used to. It's so huge! Tomorrow I will take pictures and tell you all about it.

Well, I think that about sums up our week. John and I are looking forward to a trip to the temple tomorrow morning. It seems like it has been forever since we have been able to attend together. A friend of mine from the ward asked if she could watch our little ones for us so that we could go sometime and we decided to jump at the chance! We're really looking forward to it. We have such great people in our ward. Then we go back up to CRS on Friday, a reception that night and then another weekend will be here. The days and weeks are flying by so fast right now. I wonder what we we think of these times when we are looking back on them in a few years...

Ok sorry, not so brief. ;)