As it happened, I've gotten some really cute pictures of Rebekah showing her tomboy side recently. I have to confess, she comes by it honestly. I still like to get out and play a good game of almost any sport (any sport that doesn't require me to balance on a thin blade, anyway!). And let's face it, with four older brothers, this girl had better learn to like sports! :)
One of Rebekah's therapy goals is to throw a ball a distance of five feet, and also to catch a ball thrown to her from a distance of five feet. Admittedly, the throwing goal is referring more to something the size of a tennis ball, but practice is practice, right?! The boys were playing (nerf) football in the living room last week, and Rebekah had to join in. After I looked at the pictures I realized that Rebekah throws like a *ahem* ..... girl. This Mommy is hanging her head in shame. We'll work on it, I promise! :) But at this point if she has to granny-throw, I'll take it!
No, I did not photoshop the above picture. Rebekah truly threw one direction and the ball went in the complete opposite direction. I was almost laughing too hard to snap the picture! :) Bekah loves nothing more than to be included with her brothers, no matter what they are doing! She asks every day if it is soccer practice day. Possibly some of that is related to the fact that she loves to get in the van and go anywhere, but still, she loves to do what her brothers are doing.
In other therapy goals, Rebekah is still practicing her stair climbing, standing on one foot, running, and jumping with two feet off the ground (at the same time, preferably!). We are seeing steady progress, but Rebekah is really being held back by her lack of endurance right now. We're hoping that some good days of pool therapy will help to build her muscles back as well as increase her stamina. She loves to be in the water so much that it isn't "work" to work in the pool. :) We are working on getting some funding to take Rebekah to our local pool a couple of times a week through the summer. Rebekah's therapist indicated that it would be a huge benefit for Rebekah to have the additional time in the pool. If you think of it, please add this request to your prayer list. I am really hoping that the funding will go through and make it possible!
Look, I even wear my brother's baseball hat! :) Seriously, Caleb was SO upset to see Bekah wearing his hat. Now before you get too sympathetic with Caleb, let me explain that he has at least 3 other hats, and he cannot possibly wear them all at the same time. Rebekah has outgrown her cute little pink ball cap, so we convinced a rather reluctant Caleb to share one of his hats with Rebekah. I just laughed and informed him to wait a few years. Rebekah will be borrowing his hats, his shorts, his shirts, and anything else that she finds in his closet! :) Caleb didn't find that as amusing as I did, for some reason!
Rebekah is also doing well in speech therapy, although I am just beginning to realize how far we have to go. I've always thought she had above average speech for her age (certainly compared to her brothers!), and she does have an amazing vocabulary! The downside is that her speech is hyper-nasal and she has some articulation dysfunction. Her biggest problems are leaving the beginning sounds off words, and of course sounding like she's talking through her nose (think of the word "today" sounding like noo-nay). We were told to expect the nasal speech because of the formation of her palate and the back of her mouth. This is all part of her genetic disorder. As we've been working on sounds over the last few weeks, though, I realize that it isn't going to be a few weeks of therapy and she will learn the correct speech. This is going to take months, if not years. She is having a very difficult time even positioning her tongue in the right place to begin to make the sounds correctly. If I've given you the impression that her speech is unintelligible, forgive me. I can understand probably 90% or better of what she says. But now I realize that I've just gotten adjusted to Rebekah's speech patterns, and I truly don't even realize when she's saying things incorrectly. Speech therapy is a little bit of training for both Rebekah and Mommy! :)
And how does Rebekah's paralyzed vocal cord play into her speech, you ask? Well, it doesn't really change any of the sounds she makes. It just makes it that much harder to hear her sounds. It's similar to turning the volume on your radio or TV down to about half of what you normally set it at. You can still hear much of what is said, but you will miss some of the softer sounds and inflections. There is nothing that therapy can do to "fix" or correct Rebekah's vocal cord. However, the therapy will teach Rebekah to say the sounds correctly, no matter what the volume is. I know several people have asked about that, so I hope I've explained it clearly. Stay tuned for another post about Rebekah's latest vocal cord scope. :)
Nancy
