Great news! Nathaniel just moved to his new apartment in Raanana!!! As part of his occupational therapy, and because it is his apartment, he is helping to unpack things and put them where they belong.
I asked him if he thought his brother would like a certain gift. He shook his head NO. I was surprised because I thought his brother would want it. Well, Nathaniel was correct. His brother didn’t want that gift.
The occupational therapist was asking questions about historic events. She asked Nathaniel, “How did David Ben Gurion stand?” Nathaniel indicated that Ben Gurion stood on his head, referring to the iconic photo and statue of Ben Gurion standing on his head at the beach.
The caregivers, a therapist, and I were having a meeting about Nathaniel and we were talking about him. Nathaniel was not being included in the meeting. I noticed that Nathaniel had his whistle in his mouth ready to blow. He wanted to let us know that he wanted to be part of the conversation.
During communication therapy, the therapist gave Nathaniel choices of what he wanted to communicate. One of the options was, "Something else". That's what he chose. In addition, he typed that he wanted to be more independent and that everyone should not do so much for him, but rather give him more time to respond.
Nathaniel has been learning Pirkei Avot with a man via video telephone once a week. They finished the book after a long time. The man asked Nathaniel what he wanted to learn next, but via video Nathaniel’s response wasn't so clear. I visited and asked him if he wanted to continue Torah learning and if so, what subject? Nathaniel was very clear that he wanted to continue, and he wanted to learn the weekly Torah portion.