Day 163 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,

What an encouraging report I received tonight during our nightly call to Grayson. When I asked his RA (residential assistant) how everything was this evening she gushed and said that the last three days he has been doing "so great". Naturally, I was excited to hear more of what had her so enthusiastic. So here are some of the details.

After returning from a full day of therapies at the clinic, a free/rest period and dinner preparations, the RA said, "Let's go do laundry". Grayson got right up from his chair, went with her to his room, retrieved his laundry basket and started his laundry. His willingness to get right to the chore is what had her so excited. There was no need for coaxing. (Hooray!) He still needed some cueing to complete the sequence of actions. For example, he stuck his hand into the laundry basket and held it there forgetting to grab the clothes. With gentle prompting he was able to complete everything.

Grayson's cooperative attitude continued later when she led him through other housekeeping tasks. He mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors and wiped the kitchen counters. (Made me feel a bit guilty about my own housekeeping this week).

His THPs (therapeutic home program) were also productive tonight. As Brant has mentioned the staff asks a series of orientation questions every day. Tonight, Grayson was able to correctly identify the date. (Woo hoo!) She thinks he referenced the calendar on the wall but is not sure. If he did, this is a major accomplishment. With brain injury, one of the most important skills is to learn to use the tools available where memory used to suffice.

Another section of his THP's was a list of 40 objects. Grayson had to identify in which group each object belonged. The fact that he stuck with the exercise through all 40 objects impressed me.

In the last section he was presented with picture pairs. Grayson had to explain how the objects were alike and how they were different. This was a really good exercise because it was open-ended. He had to use his own words to describe the similarities and differences. For example, a picture of pills and a picture of a shot. Among Grayson's answers: Alike – both use special formulas, both are medicines. Differences – administered differently; one liquid, one solid. Even though one word answers come more easily, the staff works at stretching and challenging him daily.

After all of this, he spent about 45 minutes singing karaoke and then returned to watch one of his current favorite TV shows "America's Funniest Videos". I can hear him laughing out loud and it makes me smile – and there is so much to smile about.

Grace and peace to each of you.

Regina