Good Work at Speech Therapy!

I took Daddy to Speech Therapy Thursday morning. I was so impressed with the work Dad and the Speech Therapist, Marge, did on Thursday! Dad spent most of the time working at the computer! Marge had some incomplete sentences in Microsoft Word and asked Dad to finish them. They were...

1. Today is

2. Yesterday was

3. Tomorrow will be

4. I like to drink

5. I like to eat

6. My wife's name is

7. My oldest daughter is

8. My 2nd oldest daughter is

9. My 3rd daughter is

10. My son's name is

It was clear that Dad would know what he wanted to type...he'd start to type the word but he could not spell it without Marge writing it down. Dad would then look at what she had written and then he would type it. She said that it is a common type of post-stroke syndrome that doesn't allow him to take a thought and be able to write it or type it like he wants to. Marge made Dad us the cap's lock when appropriate, made him spell everything correctly and end each sentence with a period. If he made an error, she would have him arrow or backspace to it and correct it. When he was answering what he liked to drink, we discussed it and asked him things he'd like to put there. Once he had listed three things he very emphatically typed the period! He was ready to move on! The three of us had a good laugh about that! Typing was a very slow process, but he was able to do it!

Marge is working with Dad on saying "Ah" for yes and "Oh" for no. He is in such a habit of shaking his head that it takes a lot of reminding. It will just take consistency in changing the habit.

The hour went by very quickly and the last thing Marge had Daddy do was to sing "Happy Birthday!" That song is one that therapists like to use because of the clear sounds of the H, P, B, D and the vowels. The therapists at Reliant tried to get Dad to sing it, but he wouldn't - he thought it was silly! He'll do it for Marge, though! And, you know what, he sounds pretty darn good! I got teary eyed listening to him! Those are the most "words" I've heard him "speak" since September!

Dad and I went straight home for lunch! If our mouths are empty, we're hungry!!! Mom had made us pinto beans and corn bread! I delayed Dad's nap a little bit by showing him and Mom some of the results of the new project I'm working on. We also started listening to a CD that Jimmie had made for us from an old cassette tape...it was a taped conversation between Mom and her oldest brother, Mike, who shortly thereafter passed away. Jean, Mom and Whitney had gone to visit him in San Antonio years ago and Mom and Uncle Mike talked about memories of their childhood! After Dad had listened to the "tape" for about 30 minutes, he slowly started backing himself out of the room! Of course, he was headed for his chair and his nap! Mom's eyelids were so heavy that she could barely stay awake, so I left as soon as it was finished so she could also have a nap!

It was such a good day and we enjoyed each other so much! "A happy family is but an earlier heaven!" ~ John Bowring

Amen!