Bob's Burger

Bob had a good day today. He had physical therapy, speech therapy and group occupational therapy.

During group occupational therapy Bob played with the cones again, but this time it was a different game where he had to use them to bat away balls. My mom said she was not as good as Bob playing this game. The therapist commended Bob for his improved speech, noting Bob was making more sounds.

Our whole family went to visit Bob in the late afternoon and we noticed that he is more prolific with the sounds he has been making. Bob's "yeses" are more purposeful and actual words are popping out more frequently. This happens mostly when Bob is not being prompted to say anything in particular. The words just flow as a result of a particular circumstance. For example, my mom mentioned that the New Balance store (where she bought a lot of his sneakers) was close to Spaulding and then Bob said: "Where is it?". This was as much to his surprise as it was ours. When we made a big deal about his improved speech he protested, he even used his left hand to close up his left ear in an effort to shut out the praise. This "It's no big deal" behavior has been present from the start. Bob is very reluctant to accept compliments. I can just picture him saying: "Naaahh..." if he could.

My mom and Bob ate lunch at the cafeteria today. Bob chose a cheeseburger and when asked if he wanted lettuce and tomato on it, he was puzzled. The person working behind the counter was patient and showed Bob a piece of lettuce, to which he said "no" and then showed him a piece of tomato, to which he said "yes". My mom thinks Bob appreciated having choices to make. I imagine that after losing control and independence, it must be a big deal to choose what goes on the burger. When Jason asked Bob what he thought about the burger, Bob was not very enthusiastic. Jason asked him if he missed eating his own burgers and Bob replied "yeah".

My parents did not go out today, as the weather was chillier than it has been all week. But they enjoyed hanging out in the cafeteria and then in the dinning room on Bob's floor. There Bob played the traffic game, beating the first card of the "expert" variety. He has completed all of the "advanced" cards. Bob also played the word tile game but did not complete all ten words he is supposed to on the weekend. He did the exercise for seven words. Bob breezes through words that have consonants separated by vowels like "bagel" but has more trouble with words that have many consonants in a row such as "bench".

Below is a picture of Bob's leg brace. I have mentioned this brace on previous posts. Here it is inserted into one of the many shoes that Bob tried on during the past week. Behind it you can see the Charles and the patio that is connected to the cafeteria.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading and keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming.