Day 121 - Friday April 13, 2012

Today was a good day.  We met with Dr. Roberts and then headed to Salt Lake to meet with Kasey at the Low Vision Clinic.  I took the book that I made for her that tells about her life.  I had added some new pages that she had never read before.  I showed Kasey the book and had Bridgett read two of the pages that she hadn't read before.  When she finished he turned to his two students that were observing and said this is what sometime happens.  You plan a very good day and then things have changed so you scrap your plan and improvise.  He said that Bridgett was doing so good he needed to shift gears.  Her reading was a lot better.  He did a text where he puts up a white board with the number 0-9 and times her while she finds each on in order.  It was a night and day difference from when she started there.  Next Kasey got out some worksheets and had her identify the letter A in a string of letters.  She did OK but when he used a reading guide she did much better.  Then he got out his ipad and his Kindle and showed us things.  He had Bridgett read in the largest font from the ipad.  She needed the largest font but could then read just fine.  He used a piece of paper as a guide.  This is where I see the benefit of a Kindle...you can touch the screen and nothing happens so you can use your finger as a guide without changing the screen in any way.  Hmmm.  So in that light Kindle would be better for her right now.  But the apps on the ipad are better.  We need something that can handle both!  The very thing that makes ipad great--the touch screen--is it's limiting factor right now.  Anyway, we talked about memory.  Kasey suggested we get her a watch that displays clearly the date including the day of the week so that she can stay oriented.  Next session we are going to work on using the calendar app.  So anyway, things are coming along.  I was glad that Bridgett was feeling better since it's been a rough week for her.  Later on after we got home she wanted to go for a walk, although we just walked once up and down the hallway outside and then she was tired and wanted to rest.  Then she wanted to go driving.  Mark said you can ride with me but you can't drive and Bridgett agreed to that.  He suggested going to the Golden Spoon and she said that would be OK.  We drove to Orem and went into the Golden Spoon--where Bridgett used to work.  She did not recognize anything.  The gal that was working was very sweet.  Mark introduced Bridgett and she said her name was Beth and she had worked with Bridgett for a bit although we hadn't met her.  She was very nice.  I asked her to have the manager, Kira, call us as Bridgett was good friends with Kira.  I am hoping that she can meet with Kira and this will help her remember things.  We also plan to take her to the Liahona Preparatory Academy and meet with Brother and Sister DeGraff to see if that sparks memories.  Brother DeGraff would be thrilled to know that today I asked Bridgett if she remember the quote by Thomas Jefferson that goes....if a nation expects....and she filled in with the entire quote.... " If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization it expects what never was and never will be."  As I said before, the brain is a very complex thing.  It is strange what the mind remembers and how sometimes things are so clear and other times they are not.