Our six-year-old special-needs grandson, Jesse, cannot speak
and is severely retarded, although he is able-bodied physically. He has no sense of danger and does not
respond to verbal cues of any kind.
Needless to say, we have to watch him like a hawk around the lake.
After months and months of one-on-one therapy, Jesse is
making eye contact – hooray! At times he will repeat simple repetitive drills
with small toys in order to receive a food reward (raisin, peanut, etc.) Any tiny improvement in his behavior is
cause for celebration.
This summer it appears Jesse is intuitively/instinctively acting
differently than ever before when we're swimming in the lake. In the past, he needed constant
handling. However, this year when he’s
in waist deep water (give or take a few inches), he throws his entire body down
until he is completely submerged and then rights himself with his feet on the
bottom - only to repeat the activity again and again and again. He seems really close to
swimming!! Great exercise for a
little guy who needs to spend a lot of time restrained for his own safety.
We’re almost certain he ends up swallowing lake water, but
oh well. There’s some reason to
believe there could be a carry-over between swimming skills and his other
therapies, since when one area of the body develops a skill, every other area
also benefits. We’re excited about
the next couple of months in the lake, and his parents are already on the
lookout for a trained professional who could work with him in a nearby pool.
Go Jesse!
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