5.15.11

Embarrassed to tell you that I cannot post pics today of Aimee in her new chair. I promise I will soon! However, the main point is that she does have it and she loves it! We were able to go in a week ago Friday and meet with the Durable Equipment department to do the final fitting. It took a few hours and we found out we are missing 5 pieces, but they let me walk out the door with it! It is so wonderful. It rides really smoothly and has a great canopy that covers her whole front with a nice window so she can still see out. It also spins around so that she can either face us or face out.
Having it has made us realize that there are some changes that we will have to make soon. We will definitely need to build a ramp up into the house and maybe get cement/concrete for the driveway. Ed is also looking into some kind of a ramp for the back of the tahoe. Although it isn't necessary, because I can lift it by myself, it would make things easier.
Wednesday of last week, Aimee and I spent the day at a conference in Tacoma. The workshop we attended was focused on children with multiple sensory disabilities, specifically hearing and visual impairments. It was really fun and helpful. We did lots of activities with blindfolds and ear plugs in to simulate the disabilities. Several of them we had partners who couldn't speak to us, but had to try to teach us how to do an activity or craft. Amazing insight into how frustrating it would be to have limited sight and hearing!
We were able to spend 4 days last week in Eastern Washington with Ed's family to see his younger brother graduate. It was really neat to get a glimpse of what he has been doing and to get the tour of his labs/projects. Made me miss school though. Anyone want to take a class with me? :)
Aimee and I met with the Speech Therapist on Wednesday after her Occupational Therapy appointment. We had an evaluation done of her current communication abilities and what areas would develop next. It sounds like she will have a Speech Therapy appointment available once a week, although I am considering only having it every other week. Too many appointments! I am excited to get started with this though. Communication is the one area that I am most desperate to see improvement.
Thursday we met with the TVI. She brought over a new, smaller light box that will fit perfectly on the tray of Aimee's chair (as soon as we have the tray). She also brought over a flashlight with different colored lenses and a manual on how to use this type of light therapy. I really enjoy learning about all the different ways I can help Aimee...it is difficult sometimes to fit all the exercises in during her alert hours though.
We are really excited, because this week we are going to have insulation put into the floors of our house! Aimee spends most of her day on the floor (less now that she has the chair) while she plays in her activity room and exercises. It is so SO cold down there and heating up the house with no insulation underneath doesn't really help. We are hoping to be able to sand the floors down and refinish them very soon. Definitely don't want anything to discourage her from exploring her world.