October 5th

Where do we begin to talk about an exciting September?

As is always the case Ashley has pushed herself in reaching new goals in therapy. One of the most exciting achievements was in speech. A bit of background first. ADEM has affectd Ashley's vision. It is not so much the clarity as it is her ability to maintain focus. An example is drawing two thick lines on a 3' x 2' whiteboard. It is difficult for Ashley to follow a specific line from one side to the other.

With that in mind what occurred during speech last month amazed us. One of her therapists pulled out a card that had a sentence on large font that filled a few lines. She asked Ashley to look at it. She than asked questions about the statement. Ashley answered them all. She has regained the ability to focus sufficiently to read!

September means football and gave us a chance to visit Austin-Miles and take in an IU game. What made it even more special is that it fell on Ashley's birthday. Austin-Miles chose the restaurant, Yogi's (good food and atmosphere) and we had a great time catching up with him and celebrating Ashley's birhtday. Then it was off to the game. We caught up wiht Ashley's friend Emily and her boyfriend Dean. It was an evening game and the weather was ideal.

Austin-Miles was filming from the south end zone above the scoreboard (he's between 'Indiana' and 'University'). The entire 90' x 30' scoreboard is one huge jumbo-tron.
Here is the view Austin-Miles has. We were sitting in the first row on the right side (east) of the field.
They showed the plays live and even though we were in the front row at midfield we found ourselves watching the live action on the scoreboard as often as we were looking at the field. During half time several high school bands joined the IU band. It was fun being so close to the field to watch them and also having the benefit of looking up at the screen to the 'bigger' picture going on out on the field.
Backing up on the calendar a bit; Bernie Veldman of Midwest Orthotics, the company that provides Ashley with her ankle-foot orthotics (AFOs), said he wanted to do something special for Ashley. Bernie and his staff went well beyond that. I'll direct you to the WNDU-TV link under 'News Articles on Ashley' in the right column on this page and to the video link within to see exactly what they provided Ashley. Then read on...

This hybrid PC combines the functionality of a fully loaded PC with the adaptability of a tablet with a touch screen. Ashley has been improving her ability to use the touch screen on her communication PC. While she still needs assistance in supporting her arm, she is able to touch the large icons on the screen to launch Facebook, Audio Book Reader, Internet Explorer (which defaults to this site as its home page), Skype and Kindle for PC. In addition there are speakers mounted on the back of her chair that provide excellent audio when Ashley plays her iTunes which are also accessible on the PC. Below we were taking a walk on the new walk/bike path in our neighborhood while listening to music on Ashley's new PC. There is a trackball mounted on the left side that will help Ashley improve the motor skill of her left arm. Another benefit coming from the trackball is that it will help Ashley control her electric wheelchair that has a joystick mounted on it.

Earlier I mentioned that Ashley read large font sentences on cards at therapy. We downloaded Kindle for PC. As a test we downloaded a free book and found we could adjust the font size to what Ashley needed. Just as she did in therapy Ashley was able to read and answer questions about the subject matter. What increased our excitement was that Ashley merely has to touch the right side of the screen to advance the page, or the left side to back up. She can place a 'bookmark' where she stops so the next time she opens the book it will open to where she left off.

We have also downloaded an audiobook that we will be listening to via Ashley's PC during our road trip to Victory Junction Gang Camp in North Carolina. As you can probably picture, this device is more than a mere convenience. It is opening up several doors toward Ashley's recovery. We can not sufficiently express our thanks to Bernie and his fabulous staff.

Another wonderful person that came into our lives is David Affholter. Followers of this blog will recall from the July posting that David and his wife Emily had their third child, Hope Ashley, that our Ashley is pictured holding. In this link David tells the story of faith he experienced via his life altering injury and meeting Ashley that includes a song called 'Swingset'. Well done David, well done! http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=152268941478030

We will be going to Victory Junction soon. We are looking forward to seeing more of the amazing people God has put in our lives. Count on us to take lots of pictures and to post them as soon as the internet connection allows.

May God bless your October!