April 7th

We missed posting an update last week, but that wasn’t for lack of news. As you will see from the latest picture added at the bottom of the site Ashley’s standing frame has been assembled and she is using it. We’re glad we had the pros do it. There was a bit of fine-tuning and we wouldn’t want Ashley to be uncomfortable in it.

Over the last couple weeks Ashley has continued to improve in several ways. She is looking to her left much more often and she is moving her right arm more frequently. She is managing to work those tight tendons out. Quite often Ashley will move her arms, or her legs and when we question her to find out if she was trying to get our attention, or if she had a muscle spasm she will indicate that she was merely exercising her control. It is a reflection of Ashley’s determination. We know that therapy and the workouts we do with her at home are quite tiring, both physically and mentally, but she just keeps going.

Sound is another major change. While Ashley is not forming word sounds yet she will respond when asked to say something. Like with moving her arms and legs, Ashley will warm up her vocal cords often. In speech therapy they are confident that it is just a matter of time, and a lot of hard word on Ashley's part, before she will be speaking again.

The warmer weather is a blessing. We got out with Ashley on Saturday and Sunday and plan to do so every day that it is nice out. Nothing seems to please her more than to get outside and to stroll through the neighborhood. It is apparent that Ashley likes bumping into the neighbors, most of whom she has not seen since last summer. Her beaming smile confirms that she enjoys seeing everyone.

We continue to hear of the prayer support that is being offered on our behalf and it is certainly humbling. We don’t know what we did to deserve all the loving support we have received. We are very thankful for it. Ashley’s faith is strong and we can see that she is positively influenced by it as much and the rest of our family is. We would certainly say that prayer is a vital component to making Ashley’s traditional therapy an ongoing success.