SPELLING SUCCESS!

When Gregory entered kindergarten at age 5, he could barely write the letter “G” in his name.  It took the first two years of elementary school, intensive practice at home and school using a specialized writing curriculum, and hours of occupational therapy for him to consistently remember how to form the rest of the letters of the alphabet.  In first grade, when he finally took his first spelling test, he used a letter grid that allowed him to point to each letter/sound he heard in order to highlight his spelling skills without penalizing him for his writing challenges.  At that time he was 6 ½ years old and was spelling 2-3 words each week, ones such as “he” and “me,” “so” and “no.”

Having survived a stroke at birth, followed a few months later by a rare but serious epilepsy syndrome, visual and cognitive tasks such as writing and spelling came extremely difficult to Gregory.

Fast forward to the current school year and Gregory is an almost 11-year-old fifth grader who aces his weekly spelling tests!  He still has to work extremely hard but is so proud that he has been able to apply the spelling rules he learns to remember bigger words such as “milkshake,” “seashore” and “restrain,” as well as some of the really odd ones, like “brought,” “honest,” and “answer.”  With hope and a lot of determination, anything is possible! 

~ Gregory's Proud Mom 

One, Two, Three...Walk with me!

Just wanted to share our news - Ben is walking!

He is 19 months old and has been on the verge of walking for what seems like an eternity.

Until now he has been cruising and walking from one piece of furniture to another...and just last weekend he got it and is now walking independently!

Words can't even describe what joy this brings us. Although the specialists all tell us "they will walk"...it is so special and reassuring when it actually happens.

Thanks for sharing in our joy! 

~ Ben's proud mom.

Cleared For Takeoff!

Teddy hasn't been able to ride amusement park rides for a long time because of sensory issues, so we haven't even thought of taking a trip in an airplane because of the risk involved (maybe he wouldn't get on the plane? he might melt down when we're in the air?) But when my husband asked Teddy on a whim if he'd like to take a plane ride in the little 4 seater at our local airport, Teddy surprised us both and said yes!

We decided to make it his 11th birthday present and Teddy was excited and ready. Then the day of his birthday he came home from school in tears, worried about flying. We both talked to him, calmed him down, and explained that if he didn't want to, he didn't have to. We would just go look at the plane and then come home. This eased his mind a lot!

When we got to the airport Teddy's spirits perked up. He loves watching the planes take off and land, so he started getting excited. When the pilot got there and asked Teddy if he was ready to fly, he said "YES!" Alan and the pilot got in the front seat while Teddy and I rode in the back. When the engine started he got a little nervous about the noise, but Dad gave Teddy his headset and from there on it was smooth sailing! Teddy wasn't bothered about the motion of the plane, the sounds, or the heights. It was a wonderful achievement, and we're so proud of our big guy!

~ Teddy's proud mom

YEA HOOO!

Hello. I  thought I would share my great news of the day. My son started pedaling a bike with no training wheels on it today.

Oh, he was so excited!! He kept yelling, "Yea hooo! Yea hooo!"  It was so cute and tear jerking.

When he was younger his foot would always fall off the pedal, so we got a strap for his affected foot.

Then the mountain bike we got had handles that he felt were too far for his shorter affected arm and too high so he felt unsafe, so I bought him and his brother a balance bike.  This was the best thing I have ever done, no peddles but man he learned how to balance in a month or so and could go flying everywhere with it, and he opened his hand and placed it on the handle. 

So today when he got on this new shorter bike, with no training wheels, and handles that are closer to him, he was flying around on it like a balance bike, and I said, "Hey! The hardest part of riding a bike is balancing and you have that down, so why don't you peddle?" So he put his feet up and wobbled like twice then was on his way!!!

Oh, his face! I never knew if he would ride because his right hand has very tight muscles because of the hemiplegic cerebral palsy and his leg used to slip.  His riding a bike is my good news of the day!!

~Proud mother to Evan 6 Right Hemeplegia

Christopher is clapping!

I am so excited! Christopher just turned 11 months old and he has started to clap. It is a little different clap, he holds his left arm close to his body, holds out his hand and then pats it with his right hand. We have been working so hard to get him to clap since his 9 month check up. It's difficult for Christopher to move his left hand because he has hemiplegia (paralysis or weakness on one side of the body).

~Christopher's proud mom

Yes she can!

Brooke was about 7 months old when she was diagnosed with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. After a great pregnancy, labor and delivery, this was a huge shock to us, and left us completely off guard. Her doctor told us all of the things she would never do, like crawling, walking, playing piano. We all took it very hard.

Our family banded together and have been working with her a great deal, along with her Physical Therapist. Around 10 months, she started "Army crawling"; at 11 months she pulled herself up to stand at the couch; around 12 months she started regular crawling (after trying and trying and trying); and has just recently at 14 months started  to stand on her own for a couple seconds and has even taken a couple steps!

It has been a very long road, and we have just begun. We are so proud of our little girl and all the progress she has made, and look forward to seeing all the things we know she will accomplish. She is very strong willed and will do anything she puts her mind to, one way or another. She has already proven her doctors wrong and we wouldn't change her for anything.

~Brooke's extremely proud and grateful mom.

A True Winner - Cerebral Palsy Doesn't Slow Down Nathan

Nathan and his twin Jacob were born 4th of July 2002 at 29 weeks. Shortly after birth Nathan suffered a Grade IV brain hemorrhage. As a result he has left hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Nathan is currently in the 3rd grade and doing very well. I want to share his story of hope as it has not always been so easy and there were many days when we wondered how Nathan would do as he grew older.

Nathan has been competing in the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged the past three years. His first year he took home 7 gold medals - a medal in each event he entered. The second year he earned 8 gold and again this year 8 gold medals for Nathan!!!! This year he won gold medals in the 40M, 60M, 100M dash, distance kick, soft toss, precision throw, and bowling.
 
Nathan also has been taking Karate for the past 2 1/2 years and was promoted to rank of blue belt in September. He recently competed in a tournament for Karate with typically developing children and did an awesome job. Here is a video of Nathan from that Tournament.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2N-iq4FEts

Nathan continues to work hard in both school, Karate, and he does all of this despite his disability. He amazes me each day!!! I am so proud to be his mom. :)    Nathan's Mom