"Stryders Journey"

Yesterday's therapy with Jayme was fun. Stryder was very different and was jumping around and playing quite a bit. This is a far cry from when he first started out. Jayme mentioned how the during the first month, Stryder was almost robotic. Very eager to do what was asked but didn't really show any emotion. He was, and is, very compliant, but never smiled and seemed to do anything only because he was asked, not because he wanted. Yesterday, he was different-finally telling Jayme when he was all done with an activity, standing up and kicking around, being his normal, fun self and laughing the entire time. Jayme was laughing along side too.

After explaining to Jayme what the genetics DR had said, she was relieved to know that she was not alone in saying that she had never witnessed the speech patterns that Stryder had. I told her how the DR was intrigued with his case. It was as if he had his own language, that no one else understood. We also talked about the prognosis of having Maple Syrup Urine Disease and she was concerned for me, telling me not to go on the internet and reading about it until we know for sure. It is a very dangerous disorder and the only "cure" is a liver transplant, but it can be somewhat managed through his diet, but if he gets even a small cold it can cause brain damage, seizures, coma or even death. We are still in the beginning stages of finding out about this disease, but as I have said before I feel like we are on the right track and can start protecting him from further damage.

After therapy, we went to the pool and Stryder had a blast. He was talking with a lot of the parents and even found a little girl to play with that was exactly the same age as Stryder. They ran and played and even talked with each other. It was so fun to watch, expecially because this was the very first time he has ever played with another child and didn't ignore or turn away. He has definitely come around 180 degrees from where he was just 6 months ago and I am so grateful that he is learning to be more social even with his disability!