Daily Learning

This is how we are reading nowadays, through the Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking Program. I read a story to Jared and he picks out the colors to visualize what's happening in the story. For example, "The red hen laid a white egg" might start the story. He picks colored felt squares to go along with it.

This book that we're using is a book to develop thinking through dual coding. According to the author, Nanci Bell, the stories that we read "are a tool to integrate visualizing and verbalizing - the dual coding of imagery and language - necessary for cognition. Aristotle said, 'Man cannot think without mental imagery.' Since without thinking and reasoning we are lost, it is my hope that these V/V stories and HOTS questions will assist individuals of all ages, sizes, and colors to reason and communicate better."

And, this is how we're currently working on math skills. Granny bought Jared a little netbook so he can work through math problems on line. He's also working on his computer skills.

How much better to get wisdom than gold,to get insight rather than silver! Proverbs 16:16 (NIV)

A Little Champagne Talk

Dr. Champagne and I had an interesting conversation about this "brain injury" work. She told me that ADHD was considered a brain injury and folks would be institutionalized until the 1930's, if they had ADHD. She said that it was classified as that until 1970. It's an older way to classify any neurological disorder like that. She then told me stories of how her grandma took her to these institutions to study folks. I asked her how old she was and she told me 8 or 9 years old!

She told me about a lady who was admitted to a mental hospital when she was five, because she was dyslexic, and had been there for 50 years. Her grandma also took her to prisons to study folks. She learned that so many inmates who were in jail, had brain issues. I was absolutely fascinated. She said that her grandmother wanted her to see folks so she could better understand the brain and try to help folks NOT get institutionalized or make decisions that could land them in jail. Dr. C. has been studying the brain since grade school!

If I haven't said this enough, I'll say it again. I feel that Dr. Champagne is the #1 person who can help my child. Her heart is phenomenal. She goes over and beyond and she KNOWS HER STUFF! She almost makes me want to go to medical school and study neurology. Almost.

 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)

Concrete

A few weeks ago, Ray and I met with Jared's teacher and principal to recap his phonics program and see how we could help prepare him for the next school year. Out of all the things we talked about, one thing stood out: "Read books with him and to him, especially fiction books." Hmm... that seemed to be an odd suggestion.

When we asked why, we were told that he takes everything very literally. Some of the day-to-day things he says are, "That can't happen" or "How is that possible?" He is extremely inquisitive and wants to know how everything works or functions. At times, he'll even argue with the person telling a fiction story...expressing that the story could not actually happen!

Last Thursday, Dr. Champagne read a story to him and he was to answer questions after it. Unfortunately the story was something like, "You and your family went to the park yesterday. You went down the slides and played in the grass." When he was asked the questions, he kept arguing with Dr. C. and telling her that he did NOT go to the park yesterday. "Did you slide down the slide?" He'd say, "No. I wasn't at the park!" She explained to him that it's a story. He wouldn't budge.

My favorite one was where she asked him the question, "How many pennies are in a nickel?" He said, "None. You can't put pennies into a nickel." She kept trying to explain it, but he took the penny and kept knocking it up against the nickel and asking her to show him how it was even possible. He told her it could not be done. They could be stacked, but you could not put a penny IN a nickel. It's impossible. She was laughing so hard. She said, "He's SO concrete!" 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  Ecclesiastes 3:4 (ESV)

Is It In There?

Today I received a phone call from the administrator at Jared's school. She had good news. This fall they are starting an entirely new phonics program at the school. Why is this good news? It's geared toward APD kids. It's one of the best ways for ALL CHILDREN to learn to read. Even Zane will be starting with it in K4. She asked if I wanted to come to the teacher training for it in August. Preschool through 2nd grade teachers will be trained in it. Her excitement was evident in all that she told me. She said, "Jared's going to be ahead in some areas, since he's already familiar with it."

That's when I took the opportunity to tell her about my day yesterday... how Jared's skills vanished. Her first words were, "It's in there." My first thought was cynical... "Sure". She said that he's filed it away somewhere and we need to find the tools to retrieve it. Once we find those tools, it'll all be there. She described it like it was going to be a magical moment or something. I didn't realize how teeny tiny my faith was until she said that. My thoughts were still "Um. yeah. sure. I don't think so. You don't understand. It's gone." I mean, could she be right? She IS trained in APD. She knows about all this stuff. Has she seen this before? Why is she not as pessimistic as I am? Are there a bunch of drawers in the brain and it's been shoved in a drawer and we have to remember which drawer it's in and get it? What do we do until then? Learn it all again? This is so confusing.

I told her we need a miracle. She said that she would pray with me for that miracle.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

More Answers, More Tears

I brought home this perfect little bundle of joy from the hospital 88 months ago. He had ten perfect toes and ten perfect fingers. He had ice blue eyes and natural highlights in his hair that caused quite a commotion at the hospital. He had a smile that lit up any heart.

He is my "#1". I've always called him that. His daddy deployed when he was 4 months old and we were on our own for 18 months. He was it. He was my everything. He is my joy. He is my heart. He makes me smile like no one else can.

I adore his sense of humor. His laugh melts any mood. 

From the outside, everything seems perfectly normal. 

But sometimes I wonder how many swimming pools could be filled with the number of tears I have cried for him. Some days the new, or better explained, diagnosis seems too much to handle.  You would think my tear ducts would dry up. Why can't they? Sometimes I think, "No, this isn't happening. There's going to be a miracle and his brain will start working. It HAS to." Then I look at the piles of workbooks on my desk... cognitive strategies that I have to work with him daily...and know that this is our reality. "Techniques for Brain Injury Rehabilitation" is our reality. Did this "brain injury" come with the perfect fingers and toes at birth? When did this happen? When did my perfect son's seemingly perfect brain stop functioning? 

Pouring out my tears and heart to the only One who knows what's going on, each night after my precious son falls asleep, is my reality. The terrifying and sorrowful diagnosis that I received this morning is my reality. His working memory is low. His auditory memory numbers are low. Everything we've worked on. Everything he learned. His reading. His math. It's gone. It's like someone came and wiped out his brain. We took a break for a week and it's vanished. It took my strength and hope with it, and left me with pain and so many, many, many more tears for my child.  It's just like what happened when Ray came back from Iraq when Jared was 4. Jared suddenly "forgot" his alphabet. We thought he had a mini-stroke or it was the stress of Ray coming back after a year. Today I found out the answer. He needs a functioning memory to remember things.

Having the answers doesn't always make things better. In fact, this answer has me on my knees, tonight, praying for a miracle.

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? Psalm 13:2a