Nick to get physical therapy regardless of his rate of progress. How will I accomplish this? I will get a personal trainer for Nick, to help him move forward with his current therapy. I have already called the therapist’s office, and the receptionist says that although Mike does not do personal training, she is sure he will know someone, and that we should talk to him about it Friday. Check. Will do.
Now, what if, after some progress, the physical therapist wants to discontinue therapy? My thought is this. It may not be too big a deal, as long as we can come back to it. With speech therapy, it was slow going at first. Nick would make progress, then hit a plateau, and the therapist would discontinue therapy. But every time we went to the doctor, I’d ask for an order for speech therapy. And every time, Nick would make more progress. The man who started with a 30-second short-term memory span (if that) and who had a hard time saying which shirt he wanted to wear (usually he’d just point) now makes jokes, uses sarcasm, and tells me that he never wants to see another bowl of Cheerios again. Nick still uses his 40 insurance-allowed speech therapy visits per year, and I time them for fall and spring, with summer reserved for physical activity.
With physical therapy and personal training, insurance be damned. We can dip into savings for that.
So if the same progress were to be made in the same way with physical therapy, it would be okay. I’d continue with the personal trainer and with exercise so that Nick would not lose what he has gained. A door has opened for him, and I must not let that door close.
And while I am thinking about what I want for Nick, I also want his improvemnt in what the neuros call “initiation,” that is, the ability to need or want something and to act upon that need or desire. I always have to provide him with what I think he needs (food, a blanket, whatever) because he can’t tell me. I have to check on him and stay nearby, because he can’t call out to me. I have seen that gradually, gradually improving over the years. And oddly (or not so oddly), the leaps and bounds seem to come when he has been engaged in more physical activity.
Two things have amazed me lately. In the middle of the night the other week, he called my name and woke me up to ask me if I was okay. The cat was meowing, so I think that’s what he may have heard, but who knows, I could have been moaning in my sleep. Initiation.
And then, he called me from another room last week and said, “Come here and mend me.”
I said, “What?” and he took my hand and said, “Look after me.”
The caregiver was with him and he did not really need looking after, but I think he wanted my company. (Yay!) I sat down and talked with him and held his hand. Asking for what he wants and needs. It’s all good. I would like to see more improvement in that area, too.