Update - 1/25/09
Today is the third anniversary following Matthew's car accident and he still continues to improve in leaps and bounds!!!! We have so much to be thankful for! God is good!!!!
Two weeks ago Matthew saw his optometrist and the report was great! His eyes have completely healed. His right eye is tracking appropriately and he's reading everything well without needing prompting. Head trauma victims often have to wear sunglasses because the pupil won't dilate correctly for the light coming in, but Matthew does not have that problem and his pupils respond just as they should.
Matthew has been drawing a great deal. He's paying close attention to details. Dick Liebermann, an artist who has been assisting Matthew with drawing, met up with Matthew recently after two months. Matthew had a big stack of drawings to show him and Dick was really impressed with the detail and expressions on the faces of the people Matthew drew. When he draws himself, he uses happy expressions. Great sign! Also, Matthew and his family went to an art studio in Columbia that uses art for rehab and therapy. Some of the artists there had seen Matthew's artwork before the accident, and when shown his current artwork they were impressed and said Matthew still shows great potential, showing attention to detail and showing great ability with design.
Standing and walking - more improvement. Matthew can stand up out of his chair without assistance, grab hold of his walker and take a few steps (six or so) without guidance or assistance. In the garage, the Kurz's have parallel bars. Matthew walked back and forth on the parallel bars four times, turn around to repeat the process again and again. He had never done that before. This past Thursday, Matthew walked 35 feet with his walker by himself (and only the aids standing by just in case). Another monumental day! After February 1st, Matthew should be getting a gait trainer, which we pray helps take the weight off of Mom and help Matthew walk more and more on his own.
The water therapy has been a wonderful activity for Matthew and brought about major improvement. Matthew can float completely by himself and he is putting his right hand in the water and moving it around in ways that he hasn't been able to do out of the water. Matthew was asked to do the scissor kick and he did it the first time without any trouble.
In our last post, we mentioned that Andrew was Matthew's personal assistance over Christmas break. This was excellent for both Matthew and Andrew. Matthew responded so well to Andrew and did almost anything Andrew told him to do. One activity they did together was play ping pong. Matthew is quite good and with his left hand his "killed" Andrew in several games. Then he surprised everyone by playing with his right hand. Matthew has difficulty moving his wrist side to side and up and down, but playing ping pong, he made the effort to move his wrist.
Very soon Matthew's computer should be set up. In the next blog look for Matthew's email address. Sending Matthew an email will be a tremendous help for him to build initiative in how to speak and reply.
Stay warm!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
Two weeks ago Matthew saw his optometrist and the report was great! His eyes have completely healed. His right eye is tracking appropriately and he's reading everything well without needing prompting. Head trauma victims often have to wear sunglasses because the pupil won't dilate correctly for the light coming in, but Matthew does not have that problem and his pupils respond just as they should.
Matthew has been drawing a great deal. He's paying close attention to details. Dick Liebermann, an artist who has been assisting Matthew with drawing, met up with Matthew recently after two months. Matthew had a big stack of drawings to show him and Dick was really impressed with the detail and expressions on the faces of the people Matthew drew. When he draws himself, he uses happy expressions. Great sign! Also, Matthew and his family went to an art studio in Columbia that uses art for rehab and therapy. Some of the artists there had seen Matthew's artwork before the accident, and when shown his current artwork they were impressed and said Matthew still shows great potential, showing attention to detail and showing great ability with design.
Standing and walking - more improvement. Matthew can stand up out of his chair without assistance, grab hold of his walker and take a few steps (six or so) without guidance or assistance. In the garage, the Kurz's have parallel bars. Matthew walked back and forth on the parallel bars four times, turn around to repeat the process again and again. He had never done that before. This past Thursday, Matthew walked 35 feet with his walker by himself (and only the aids standing by just in case). Another monumental day! After February 1st, Matthew should be getting a gait trainer, which we pray helps take the weight off of Mom and help Matthew walk more and more on his own.
The water therapy has been a wonderful activity for Matthew and brought about major improvement. Matthew can float completely by himself and he is putting his right hand in the water and moving it around in ways that he hasn't been able to do out of the water. Matthew was asked to do the scissor kick and he did it the first time without any trouble.
In our last post, we mentioned that Andrew was Matthew's personal assistance over Christmas break. This was excellent for both Matthew and Andrew. Matthew responded so well to Andrew and did almost anything Andrew told him to do. One activity they did together was play ping pong. Matthew is quite good and with his left hand his "killed" Andrew in several games. Then he surprised everyone by playing with his right hand. Matthew has difficulty moving his wrist side to side and up and down, but playing ping pong, he made the effort to move his wrist.
Very soon Matthew's computer should be set up. In the next blog look for Matthew's email address. Sending Matthew an email will be a tremendous help for him to build initiative in how to speak and reply.
Stay warm!
Rachel Asburry
Matthew's godmother
posted by Randy Asburry @ 8:05 PM
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