August 12, 2006

Jess, Amanda and I made our trip to Boise yesterday to visit the United Cerebral Palsy Lending Library. Jess was pretty sleepy by the time we got there. I think the 3 hour drive was pretty tiring. But, it was well worth the trip. We did get him in front of a computer with a program that would show him pictures going across the screen like a basketball or a piece of pizza and then all of a sudden it would stop and show a picture of the mouse. It would say "hit the mouse button" over and over until Jess hit a big red button that took the place of a regular mouse. He caught on and with a little coaxing hit the button for about 15 minutes. When he got too tired there was a guy sitting next to us who was so annoyed with the voice asking Jess to hit the mouse button over and over that he reached over and hit the button for him! It was pretty cute. We came home with two computer programs and 3 switches. We can program the switches to speak and he just has to touch them to activate the message. We thought since he is starting school we could program one to say "hi" and one to say "bye" so when friends say hi to Jess in the halls he can reply (we hope) by hitting the switch. The lady (Kathy) who helped us was very encouraging. She said that this was just the beginning stages of helping Jess to do a lot more communicating. She said once he realizes he has some control in his environment he will want more. So, now I am looking for a good computer workstation that Jess can fit under. He is so tall in his wheelchair that he won't fit under a regular desk. I also need to get him a larger screen since we still question how well he can see. It is so wonderful to have an organization that will lend you some different assistive technology devices to try before you buy because they are very expensive.

I can't believe school starts the end of this month. Summer has gone by so fast. Jess and I went for a long walk on the bike path today. I love being able to be outside with him. Chris made a quick trip to Dallas, TX and we miss him. I can do most everything for Jess by myself but I sure hope he doesn't grow much taller. We still keep hearing that prayers are being said for Jess across the country. We appreciate each and every one!!! God bless!