A few weeks ago Daniel got his new "big boy" wheelchair. The Ti-Lite. We are getting some adjustment to it to tweak it and get it aligned for Daniel's body, but all I can say is WOW! It is very light weight and he looks like a little boy now. Who took my chubby little baby boy? It's nice that it is so light weight as it makes it so much easier for teaching Daniel to move it on his own. You barely have to move the wheels to make it go.
Also, we found out that we will finally be getting Daniel's augmentative device. We tried a ton of different ones out months and months ago and decided that the one with the most growth potential, and a screen sensitive enough for Daniel's light touch was by PRC. So, by the end of February I should be reporting about how much he will be communicating with us using his own computer. Now we just need to go to some training classes and learn how the whole thing works and all the wonderful things it can do. We are also having the rep for the company add additional voices to the ECO-14 for us. This way Daniel will sound like a little boy should and not a 40 yr old man or a robot!
The other great thing that is happening is we are continuing to get orders in for our party crowns that we have been making. In the past few weeks we have gotten some large orders and I can say that it has helped keep my mind off of the return of the seizures. Also, off of the fact that the medication we are giving him is making him more limp, irritable and tired. It's just his body getting use to it but, needless to say, it still sucks. So, we've got orders around and a couple large ones too! We have even got requests for St. Patrick Day crowns (see link above). We will also be putting them into some local stores and they will be advertised that all proceeds will go towards Daniel's ABR therapy. We even have a custom order for a newborn baby!! Can't wait to make that one! We are very excited to be able to supplement the costs of ABR through hand sewing the hats. I keep saying "we", because since we have gotten so many orders, I have taught Lonnie (yes Lonnie) how to sew!!! Next I'm going to teach Daniel! HA HA HA
Here are a couple pictures from happy customers! Mohammed (orange crown), bought some to celebrate his birthday. He and his friends all participated in a 50k run and celebrated his birthday by wearing the crowns for the complete run. Pretty cool. A very nice guy and we appreciate the order!
So, that is the good news!! And here is what happened to Daniel's male guinea pig when he went and got his nails clipped!! We thought it was humorous. A red bow for Valentines Day.
4 comments:
Hooray for mobility and communication!!! How exciting! I'm glad that something is working out for you guys this week!
Daniel does look like a big boy in that chair, he's really growing up.
Did you try out the DynaVox Vmax? We choose it as we saw that it was both easier to use and had higher growth potential then the ECO-14 or any Minspeak products. PRC seems to be the only company that thinks Minspeak remains relevant.
Judy
I am SO glad to hear that you are making some cash with your hands. We are having a big garage sale in March to raise funds for Charlie's ABR.
Hi! That wheelchair sounds fantastic! I know what you mean about who took my chubby little boy, Max was the same.
We have the DynaVox VMax, too. I know PRC people who love theirs. Max does well with the DynaVox, we have not yet programmed his voice into it. There is also another great device called The Tango, Google it, just FYI. It is very, very breakthrough. Max wasn't quite up to it yet, but I think it will be in his future.
I SO loved the photos of that group of guys running in their crowns! They really are so cool and well-made. I often turn to work to distract me from my stresses about raising Max. It's a double-edged sword, since sometimes work stress distracts me from the kids!
Glad you had good news, you deserved it.
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