11 September 2023

Over a year and a half ago, Nathaniel had strabismus eye surgery followed by therapy to help with eye movements. Usually when people have this type of surgery, it is to align both eyes so that they work together and a person doesn't see double. In Nathaniel's case, it was to move his eyes so that he could look and see what was in front of him, rather than just to the side. Since the surgery, we have covered the right half of his left lens so that he would be able to see to the left with his left eye (and of course straight ahead and to the right with his right eye). Lately, we have noticed that he seems to use his left eye more and it moves more. Well, the eye therapist suggested that we remove the patch and see what happens. So far so good. He seems to use both eyes, but not always together just yet. We have ordered a new lens for the left eyeglass that has prisms that will help him focus that eye more. When I play Connect Four with Nathaniel now, he can strategize to both win and to block me. He used to be able to only focus on winning, but not on following my moves. We got a small foosball table. His eye-hand coordination to get his pieces to move the ball is improving, and he loves the excitement of the game. The music therapist came to Nathaniel's place with her son and his darbuka drum. The son would tap a beat and Nathaniel would answer. It was exciting to see how Nathaniel was communicating with him. There was a real connection between the two drummers. The trainer at the physical therapy gym decided to try something new. He used electrodes to make Nathaniel's right bicep move. It was so cool to watch him "lift" the barbell. The trainer then moved the electrodes to his shoulder to help loosen the spasticity. Even days later, he was much less spastic. Nathaniel is gaining the strength and coordination in his right arm. A few weeks after starting this therapy, the physical therapist who works on functional movement, was able to bend his legs so that he could sit "crisscross applesauce". He even had the strength when sitting this way to look up and rock back and forth. Nathaniel has a hard time recognizing faces and orienting where he is so we regularly ask him to point to various people and places (where is the bedroom, where is the exit door). One day, after asking about the people in the room, we asked him where HaShem was. He thought for a moment and pointed up and swirled his finger.