Fun Morning

This morning was a lot of fun. Anthon McLaws came over to introduce the world of switch toys to Bryce. It was great talking with him and hearing of his plans with his new non-profit organization called the Let's Play Foundation. He truly believes that all children, even those with special needs should have the chance to play. These toys and switches can get very expensive, very quickly and since they are not "medically" needed, they are not covered by insurance or any type of financial help. I totally agree with him that play is just as important to a 3 year old boy like Bryce as some of him braces and medical devices are. It was so fun to watch Bryce as he quickly learned that by taping on a switch with his head, he could control the toy in front of him. He could do it himself. He hasn't been able to "play" by himself for a long time. He loved the power! What 3 year old wouldn't love the chance to do something by him/herself? It was awesome to see!

Basically what Anthon does is take regular toys and adapts them so that a child with severe and multiple disabilities can play independently. He has been working for almost a year to get this organization up and running. He is finally ready to take off with it! Anthon didn't have much yet as far as toys go, but he was here for two hours talking about how he can help us and what his plans are. He asked if once he gets Bryce some toys of his own, he could take pictures and videos of Bryce using the toys to show others what he is trying to do and hopefully get some companies to help get toys and items that can be adapted for these special kids. I of course agreed and told him that I would love to help him raise money or get toys that can be adapted. He is going to be making me a list of some toys (that can be bought at places like Target or Walmart) which are good candidates for adapting. He said that if we find toys that we want for Bryce or if he gets things for Christmas, he would adapt them for us. John may even be able to help with some of the adapting work. He took one of our toys from here today and will adapt it and bring it back to us the next time we meet. He also left a switch and a couple of toys for Bryce. He has been playing all day!

Also, I discovered again how small this world truly is. Over 10 years ago, before John and I were married we used to go to the temple weekly with John's cousin Nanette. After the session, we would always go get dinner in the cafeteria. There was a young man working there in the cafeteria who we became friends with and even invited him to go out with us a time or two. He seemed like such a great guy. John and I thought it would be great if he and Nanette got together. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and we hadn't seen him for all these years...until this morning. His name was Anthon and the man who came to help Bryce today was our old friend from the temple cafeteria! It was so fun to talk with him about those days from the past. He is now married with two boys of his own. We are looking forward to working with him again in this wonderful new service he is offering. It was a good morning!