Update - 12/14/07
It's hard to believe a month has gone by already since my last posting about Matthew's progress. And here we are headed to Christmas! I pray God's peace and joy to all of you as you rejoice in the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
My family had the great privilege of seeing Matthew and the rest of the family at Thanksgiving. It was so enjoyable to interact with Matthew and laugh with him. He has such a pleasant demeanor and it's also easy to tell when he's teasing and joking. A big smile comes over his face! Matthew doesn't carry on a conversation like you and I do, but he certainly can communicate with facial expressions and speaking phrases that you can't help but get the jist of his meaning or laugh at his joke. Oh, yeah, baby!
The highlight of the visit was Matthew's therapy session. First Brenda, Randy and I were with Matthew during speech therapy. He works hard to come up with answers to the questions the therapist asks. The questions were not always simple things like identifying a picture, but more abstract concepts like, "who protects people or gives you a ticket?" (Do you know the answer?) At first we didn't think Matthew was going to come up with the answer. He struggled to say the right word, even when assisted with prompts of the "p" sound for policeman, but then Matthew came up with the answer on his own and said "cop." His speech therapist works with Matthew on a wide range of concepts from colors to animals to public servants as well as word order in a sentence and other critical language skills.
Following speech therapy was the big accomplishment - walking!!!! When you see Matthew walk, you can tell what a major accomplishment it is because he really has to work hard for every step. Right now it's a three person effort to assist Matthew - two in the front and one behind, but Matthew is doing the work. He has a special walker that has a "ledge" on the right side for Matthew to put his right arm and then his left hand grasps the bar of the walker. The therapist puts a rubber strap on his right foot that helps to bring Matthew's foot forward, but Matthew does the lifting of his right heal (read on . . . that has recently changed). Every step forward with the left foot is totally Matthew's effort.
This time Matthew had a cheering section with the whole Kurz family and the Asburry family watching and encouraging. Even others walking by were giving Matthew encouragement and telling him he was doing great. After walking down the long hall (with a couple stops to rest), Matthew struggles to stand upright and he's glad to be done with his therapist says that's it for the day.
Now that I've said the above regarding what Matthew has accomplished in the past months, I have new information to share with you that is further improvement. A couple of weeks ago Matthew took 20 steps with both left AND right feet totally on his own. He continues to improve in his ability to move his right side. A recent addition to his therapy session is a brace that Matthew wears that helps to stabilize his balance and his stride.
In the midst of the joy of Matthew's continued improvements and anticipation of the coming of Christmas, the Kurz family has suffered a loss. Rev. Erich Kurz' father passed away yesterday on December 13th. He had struggled for years with poor health and has been released from his suffering and now rests with our Savior. Please keep the Kurz family in your prayers at this time of sorrow amidst the joy of resurrection.
Blessed Advent to all of you!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
My family had the great privilege of seeing Matthew and the rest of the family at Thanksgiving. It was so enjoyable to interact with Matthew and laugh with him. He has such a pleasant demeanor and it's also easy to tell when he's teasing and joking. A big smile comes over his face! Matthew doesn't carry on a conversation like you and I do, but he certainly can communicate with facial expressions and speaking phrases that you can't help but get the jist of his meaning or laugh at his joke. Oh, yeah, baby!
The highlight of the visit was Matthew's therapy session. First Brenda, Randy and I were with Matthew during speech therapy. He works hard to come up with answers to the questions the therapist asks. The questions were not always simple things like identifying a picture, but more abstract concepts like, "who protects people or gives you a ticket?" (Do you know the answer?) At first we didn't think Matthew was going to come up with the answer. He struggled to say the right word, even when assisted with prompts of the "p" sound for policeman, but then Matthew came up with the answer on his own and said "cop." His speech therapist works with Matthew on a wide range of concepts from colors to animals to public servants as well as word order in a sentence and other critical language skills.
Following speech therapy was the big accomplishment - walking!!!! When you see Matthew walk, you can tell what a major accomplishment it is because he really has to work hard for every step. Right now it's a three person effort to assist Matthew - two in the front and one behind, but Matthew is doing the work. He has a special walker that has a "ledge" on the right side for Matthew to put his right arm and then his left hand grasps the bar of the walker. The therapist puts a rubber strap on his right foot that helps to bring Matthew's foot forward, but Matthew does the lifting of his right heal (read on . . . that has recently changed). Every step forward with the left foot is totally Matthew's effort.
This time Matthew had a cheering section with the whole Kurz family and the Asburry family watching and encouraging. Even others walking by were giving Matthew encouragement and telling him he was doing great. After walking down the long hall (with a couple stops to rest), Matthew struggles to stand upright and he's glad to be done with his therapist says that's it for the day.
Now that I've said the above regarding what Matthew has accomplished in the past months, I have new information to share with you that is further improvement. A couple of weeks ago Matthew took 20 steps with both left AND right feet totally on his own. He continues to improve in his ability to move his right side. A recent addition to his therapy session is a brace that Matthew wears that helps to stabilize his balance and his stride.
In the midst of the joy of Matthew's continued improvements and anticipation of the coming of Christmas, the Kurz family has suffered a loss. Rev. Erich Kurz' father passed away yesterday on December 13th. He had struggled for years with poor health and has been released from his suffering and now rests with our Savior. Please keep the Kurz family in your prayers at this time of sorrow amidst the joy of resurrection.
Blessed Advent to all of you!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
posted by Randy Asburry @ 7:08 AM
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