Our daughter Nora has a wonderful sense of humour, and she's
developed some very sound learning strategies for herself.  Years ago, for
example... when the concept of parallel lines was just emerging... she made
a drawing with green felt pen which she entitled "Grass".  Over
the next seven days, she made similar drawings with each of the other seven
colours she possessed.  And then... having achieved the skill to her own
satisfaction... she went on to something else.  It seems to me she did
naturally what teachers do by having their students practise variations of
the same idea.  She did this all by herself... I just watched.  So I pay
attention when she devises strategies to help her recover from her stroke.

          One of the things Nora wants to do is get her left arm working
better, which I consider a worthy goal.  One evening, at Nora's request, I
tucked in the bedcovers to her left.  This meant I was between her &
the wall.  She hooked her left arm around mine, and because I thought it
was a good idea to encourage such behaviour I yelled (with mock
seriousness) "Help, help, I'm trapped!"  We make a regular game
of it now.  Nora yanks on the covers so she can tuck them under her right
knee, to ensure she won't fall over while she is sitting up, and I have to
tuck them in again on the other side.  Sometimes we vary the game... she
rubs my ribs with the knuckles on her right hand, for example, or spanks my
bottom... in which case I yell "Parent abuse!" or something of
the sort.  But the game always starts with using her left arm, which is the
whole point of this comedy routine.


          She's come up with other ways of using her left arm too:

 1)  Nora has a beaded curtain in her bedroom doorway.  When she enters the
room she wants me to protect her left hand, which is still
hypersensitive... so I put my right hand over the back of her left, and I
also support her fingers with two or three of the fingers on my left hand. 
As Nora walks through the curtain, she squeezes my fingers.  She has
noticed that she's best able to do this when she's somewhat apprehensive. 
Adrenaline can work wonders for the muscle tone....  ;-)

 2)  Whenever we use the car I get Nora settled first, then help Dallas
with the wheelchair as necessary.  I have to lean across her to fasten her
seat belt.  So she's taken to heckling me by waving the end of her left
coat sleeve in my face.

 3)  Nora really enjoys helping me sort & put away laundry.  We've been
doing it together since she was a toddler.  I had to find ways to keep
track of her & get other things done too, so I would ask her to hand me
something like a shirt or a pair of socks.  We still follow more or less
the same routine.  Sometimes she'll use her left hand to pick up certain
items, sometimes not.  But these days she's in a chair & the basket is
on a low stool.  When I go to another room to put the last few bits away
she pushes the empty basket off the stool with her left hand.

 4)  She also enjoys arm wrestling with her left arm, an idea she picked up
from a student OT we hired to take her on outings.  She often challenges
other people to test their skills... and she shows good judgement regarding
who to ask, since her wrist must be supported while she's doing this.  She
almost invariably beats people who are right-handed, and many of them
express amazement at her strength.


          Some people express shock & horror about my letting Nora get
away with these antics, of course.  I know... you can't be a pal to your
kids, you have to show them who's boss, etc. etc.  But Nora is almost an
adult, and the games I've described above have rules.  She realizes that if
she doesn't follow the rules I won't play.  I've often heard stories too
about folks who buy exercise equipment or gym memberships they never use
because, while they feel they should exercise, they soon find it boring. 
And I understand the majority of folks who have had a brain injury of some
sort reach a plateau after six months to a year.  It's been almost two
years since Nora's stroke.  She hasn't reached a plateau yet....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+