Curtis practices commands 8/10/08

This weekend Sean and I went back to LA to visit Curtis and it was amazing how many changes we saw since the last time I was out there only two weeks ago! On Friday, we had him outside in his wheelchair. We were all sitting around the table and most of us were eating lunch. I had just arrived at the facility so I was talking to Curtis, and he really looked like he wanted to communicate something with me. So I said to him "I know you want to tell me something. If you can find a way to let me know what you are thinking or want, I'll try to do that for you. I'd do anything I can for you!" And that very moment he gripped my hand which he was holding and pulled it up to his mouth. He put my finger in his mouth and gently nibbled my finger! How's that for letting me know he'd like to eat, too! I explained to him that the speech therapist will see him on Monday to evaluate his swallow technique, and if that went well, he could start eating again. So we had Curtis work on exercises to prepare him for this.

By Sunday, I asked Curt to practice to stick out his tongue, since the speech therapist would be asking him to do this in his evaluation on Monday. I could see him really concentrating to do this. He squeezed my hand really tightly and then I watched him get his tongue just past his teeth! We were very happy he did it!

Then on Monday, Curtis was in his room when the speech therapist walked by his bed on the way to see another patient. When Curtis saw the therapist, without being asked, he stuck out his tongue! I have been very proud of the things that Curtis is working on and accomplishing.

Renee