Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Wheelchair NOT = Deaf

In Kay's last IEP meeting, I told her teachers that there was nothing wrong with her hearing. They asked me why I said this. I explained that a lot of people speak slowly and loudly to Kay for some reason. I guess they think since she is in a wheelchair, her hearing is affected. Everyone got a chuckle from this. Directly after the meeting, we all meandered into the school office where someone introduced Kay to one of the ladies who works there. Immediately, she started to speak slowly and loudly at Kay. Everyone bursted out laughing. But no one had the guts to tell her why we were all laughing (:

Blow torches and Laser Pointers

What do these two things have in common? Well, I have to take a blow torch to Kay's braces tonight to try and fix them so they are more comfortable for her. She's getting a hot spot on her ankle and instep of her left foot. I spent 2 1/2 hours at UNC last week where the PT worked on them, but no luck. Unfortunately, you don't know until the next day if you fixed them or made them worse. This time it made them worse. Soooo, instead of making an appointment that sucks at least 2 hours from our lives, I'm going to try and DIY. And I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Now, as for the laser pointer. I recently read a fellow blogger that has CP who uses a laser pointer with an alphabet board for communicating. Kay has a Pathfinder, which is a great product, but it takes her so long to put together a sentence that it's hard for her to be an active part of a conversation. I'm going to try and combine the laser pointer and the overlay from her Pathfinder and see if she is any faster. Eva, the blogger, says that since it involves the person you are talking to (I guess they hold the board and confirm your selections) that it's more personal. I'll let you know how it works out.

Regarding my "projects" The boat seat cushion is complete. Sewing in 3D is always a challenge for me. I reused the green piping that decorates the seat. I think it came out pretty good. TTFN!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

You gotta begin somewhere

And I have begun. I went to the fabric store to buy marine vinyl to make a new cover for one of the boat seats. After finishing the boat cover my confidence is high. Anyway, I had already bought 1 yard of vinyl before and when I got there, they had moved the rolls around and I couldn't remember the color. Oyster or dune....oyster or dune. I picked Oyster. Guess what...I shoulda picked dune. Not only do I have 2 yards of the wrong color, but I have to trek back across Raleigh to buy the RIGHT color. By the way, I have the old boat seat cover sitting in the dining room practically next to my purse. I could have picked it up and taken it with me so I could have gotten the right color. I even asked myself, "Should I take the old cover to match." No, I answered, I did fine before when I bought the first yard. Crap! Oh well, the UV thread hasn't arrived yet from e-bay and I think my sewing machine needles are still up at the lake so it looks like I won't be starting this project any time soon. Maybe I should consider two two seats, Dune and Oyster (: