What is it like raising a special needs child??

I didn't write this story, but we have come across it several times and the further along we go on our journey with Blaise the more relevant it feels to us.

...WELCOME TO HOLLAND...

 I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this.....

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michaelangelo David. The Gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland".

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I have dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They have landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. You must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills.... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And the rest of your life you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Hydrotherapy

This is me doing my hydrotherapy. Hydrothearpy is very good for me because it helps me to feel my by body and it is nice to float about in the warm water. The spa needs to be at a special temperature of 34 degrees so that my body does't have to use its energy trying to keep me warm. 

It did take some getting used to though because it was scary  to be so far away from Dad in the water! Now I can splash about and Dad is teaching me the differnce between warm and cold and how to blow bubbles and soon I will start to go under water.

I have been given excercises by the AIAHP (I will tell you all about Chad in another story) that will teach me how to move so I can eventually swim on my own. That would be great! Moving in the water is alot easier than being on the floor, so really learning how to swim should be easier than learning how to crawl!

Thank you to my good friends the Wicks for letting me do these exercises at their house. It is really very nice of them and we appreciate it a whole lot! x o

Pie Drive Success!!

Hi Everyone!

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that helped me sell pies for my pie drive.

With your help we sold over 800 pies

and managed to raise $900!!!

Our Family greatly appreciates all your support!

What to do about your brain injured child

For those who have been told that there is no help for their child- READ THIS BOOK. For those seeking hope when they have been told ther is none- READ THIS BOOK. For those who believe that their child deserves to lead a better life than what is predicted for them- READ THIS BOOK.

 It is a sad fact that when your child has been diagnosed with a severe disability parents are often told not to expect much, that the brain cannot be fixed- in some cases it can. This book is written by Glenn Doman, founder of The Institutes in Phildephia USA. Through his life time of work with the brian injured he has proven that a damaged brain can be made to function again. He has developed a program that can help the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the immobile to crawl- then to walk and then to run. Don't be mistaken, this program is extremely hard work... but it can be done. If you are looking for hope- you will find some in this book.