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Sunday, June 15, 2014

An IPad for Bob!

Speech Therapy app on Bob's IPad
It shows a picture and then says the word when you tap it.
Last month, I posted a blog about Speech Therapy. In that, I mentioned how the new ST was showing Bob how to use an IPad and Bob was really excited about it. No other therapist has ever tried anything like this. But, of course, we don't have an IPad and can't afford one....

A faithful follower of my blog, Dan from Illinois, e-mailed after that blog post and said that he and some folks he knew would love to send Bob an IPad (not brand new but refurbished) and asked me if it needed to be an IPad or if something similar would do, and would an older refurbished one work? I don't know anything about this new technology so told him I would ask the ST at our next appointment.

Lo and behold, we settled our lawsuit before Bob's next ST appointment!  So then, I felt it would be a bit greedy to accept Dan's offer.  But I also knew that Bob really wanted that IPad and it would be 60-90 days before we see any money and then a lot of other things to buy/take care of first, I mean an IPad will not be first on my list. So, I wrote back to Dan and said if they really still wanted to do this for Bob, I know Bob would be thrilled and promised, after we had some money, I would donate the IPad to some other person who needed it, but couldn't afford it, for speech therapy. And I left it up to Dan.

And Friday, a refurbished IPad was delivered to our door. I got the package and told Bob it was his present and opened it in front of him. He saw it and said, "COOL!" And wanted to use it right away --- though I had to charge it up and after that, I had to figure out how it worked and get it connected to our internet (um 45 minutes on the phone with an IT guy from Verizon---aargh) but got it going and have now downloaded three free speech therapy apps...

Bob working on the IPad
 And Bob loves it! Though he has trouble figuring out how to work it (even after I showed him, several times) but I let him go at it (good brain work out!) and he is so enjoying it.

And I want to thank Dan, Dan's sister and his niece and his church, who all donated to make this happen. THANK YOU so very much! And Bob thanks you too! He is really having fun! And it is challenging his brain. I leave the room and hear him talking to the IPad. I love it!

And after this lawsuit and seeing how evil people can be, it is so good to know there are good people out there.

Thank you!

And PS: I know Bob's neck looks terrible in that photo and it is terrible, has gotten so much worse, but he is scheduled for another Botox treatment June 30 after which he's scheduled for "aggressive" therapy. I already talked to his PT about this, and he wants Bob in immediately after Botox and everyday that first week for some serious neck stretching. And I do hope this will help......  fingers crossed!




10 comments:

J.L. Murphey said...

To Dan, et al, you restore my faith in kindness to others.

Bob's new toy is awesome.

Anonymous said...

It was a great pleasure in doing this for you and Bob. Both of you have had to struggle so much for so long, and just wanted to help even if in a small way. It's great to know Bob enjoys working with the I-Pad.

Lots of hugs & prayers, Dan

Barb Polan said...

Yes, I've seen that Dan has long been supportive of you two, so it doesn't surprise me that he orchestrated this. Good luck to Bob, with Botox and neck stretches; I hope that it helps how he feels. And iPads are so useful. I enjoy imaging Bob talking to it.

Catherine dee Auvil said...

Is there a name for what is wrong with Bob's neck? My father has something similar and i am wondering if it is the same thing. And also we were wondering if we could get the name of your lawyer? It would be great to know the name of a lawyer who was familiar with stroke.

Diane said...

Catherine, it's called cervical dystonia and in Bob's case, it's called "post-stroke dystonia" which happens when the basil ganglia (sp?) portion of the brain is damaged. It's the portion of the brain that controls involuntary muscles contractions and damage there causes muscles to involuntarily contract...

I really don't want to publish our attorney's name here, but contact me privately and tell me a bit about your situation... There's a contact button on my profile page.

Jenn said...

Dan! What a gem! <3

DebbieL said...

Hi, Diane! So cool that Bob has an iPad and is enjoying it. It is so nice to know that there are wonderful people like Dan in this world!

DebbieL said...

Diane, Forgot to ask, where did you get the lap desk for Bob's iPad? That's what I need to find and maybe I can get my hubby interested in using his iPad. It is a little hard to use in bed unless it is on a stand. Big hugs from us!

Rebecca Dutton said...

Wouldn't it be great if the speech programs on iPad would let you upload your own photos and verbal comments? Maybe Bob's ST knows how to do this.

Diane said...

Debbie, got that lap desk on e-bay (new). Think it cost me $24.95. Bought it for his drawing projects but works great for the IPad.

Rebecca, ST told me about some apps that do that, but they are not free and right now we are just working with the free stuff!