Update - 3/25/07
More wonderful news! Matthew's therapists and doctors had a meeting last week and they have decided to keep him at Rusk longer because he is progressing very well. Now his projected stay will continue until April 12.
One of Matthew's very big accomplishments is sliding himself from his bed to his chair and back again. A sliding board is put under him, he pulls himself up to a sitting position and then inches his way from one to the other. Now I just described it as something very easy, but it takes a great deal of strength and patience for Matthew to do it. He needs a little assistance to adjust his legs and he had to be taught every step, but he's now lifting his right leg with his left hand and moves it over, then moves his left leg over, etc.
This Monday Matthew will get to order his own power chair. He demonstrated to the staff at Rusk that he knew how to maneuver an electric chair around obstacles, making turns, and navigating down a hallway. His previous experience at rehab in Sedalia helped him get the practice he needs. What an incredible feeling of independence for Matthew!
Matthew is now holding his own balance better when standing - WITHOUT holding onto something. This takes good trunk control. Someone needs to distract him so that he doesn't focus on what he's doing, but he can do it.
Getting Matthew to eat has been a challenge for his caregivers for quite some time, but there has been some improvement. With some coaxing, patience and prompting to start each bite, Matthew has begun to eat with a fork. Once he does it several times with persistent teaching, he catches on and continues to eat without a struggle. He's still not eating and drinking as much as he should throughout the day so he will need the feeding tube for a while longer. Thankfully he is eating breakfast now which he previously fought against.
Matthew's speech is showing improvement. He's starting to appropriately change a noun to pronoun in a sentence. He can repeat any word you tell him, but he's also doing well with coming up with a word that you want him to say. For instance, if you show him a picture of an orange and ask him to name it, he'll only need a small clue such as the first letter or the first syllable and then he names it. This requires high level thinking so it shows great potential for Matthew.
You may remember from previous updates that Matthew is able to use his left side much more than his right. We are thankful that he is now showing greater strength in his right hand. He can squeeze an exercise ball with his whole hand - not just his fingers or part of his hand, but the whole hand can squeeze the ball!
Other things that Matthew is able to do on his own are getting his shirt on and off by himself and he can now untie his own shoe. It means so much to Matthew to be able to do these things on his own.
Matthew continues to be a big jokester and likes to copy others and tease the staff at Rusk. He also loves to blow kisses. He's a very affectionate guy. Thanks so much for sending Matthew cards. He stacks them up, then puts them in a line. He re-reads them and if they are funny he laughs again. Matthew gets a lot of enjoyment out of those cards.
Have a blessed day!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
One of Matthew's very big accomplishments is sliding himself from his bed to his chair and back again. A sliding board is put under him, he pulls himself up to a sitting position and then inches his way from one to the other. Now I just described it as something very easy, but it takes a great deal of strength and patience for Matthew to do it. He needs a little assistance to adjust his legs and he had to be taught every step, but he's now lifting his right leg with his left hand and moves it over, then moves his left leg over, etc.
This Monday Matthew will get to order his own power chair. He demonstrated to the staff at Rusk that he knew how to maneuver an electric chair around obstacles, making turns, and navigating down a hallway. His previous experience at rehab in Sedalia helped him get the practice he needs. What an incredible feeling of independence for Matthew!
Matthew is now holding his own balance better when standing - WITHOUT holding onto something. This takes good trunk control. Someone needs to distract him so that he doesn't focus on what he's doing, but he can do it.
Getting Matthew to eat has been a challenge for his caregivers for quite some time, but there has been some improvement. With some coaxing, patience and prompting to start each bite, Matthew has begun to eat with a fork. Once he does it several times with persistent teaching, he catches on and continues to eat without a struggle. He's still not eating and drinking as much as he should throughout the day so he will need the feeding tube for a while longer. Thankfully he is eating breakfast now which he previously fought against.
Matthew's speech is showing improvement. He's starting to appropriately change a noun to pronoun in a sentence. He can repeat any word you tell him, but he's also doing well with coming up with a word that you want him to say. For instance, if you show him a picture of an orange and ask him to name it, he'll only need a small clue such as the first letter or the first syllable and then he names it. This requires high level thinking so it shows great potential for Matthew.
You may remember from previous updates that Matthew is able to use his left side much more than his right. We are thankful that he is now showing greater strength in his right hand. He can squeeze an exercise ball with his whole hand - not just his fingers or part of his hand, but the whole hand can squeeze the ball!
Other things that Matthew is able to do on his own are getting his shirt on and off by himself and he can now untie his own shoe. It means so much to Matthew to be able to do these things on his own.
Matthew continues to be a big jokester and likes to copy others and tease the staff at Rusk. He also loves to blow kisses. He's a very affectionate guy. Thanks so much for sending Matthew cards. He stacks them up, then puts them in a line. He re-reads them and if they are funny he laughs again. Matthew gets a lot of enjoyment out of those cards.
Have a blessed day!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
posted by Randy Asburry @ 5:22 PM
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