Reach Again

We had an excellent appointment at Reach Institute.

We got some excellent advice and information from Charlie and Consensao. Here is a summary:

* They talked to me a lot about behavioral issues. The fact that Nathan can’t move doesn’t mean he’s not smart enough to know to figure out how to get his way. He’s an expert at that. So we have to establish consistent discipline, revolving around a premise of teaching him that he doesn’t have to whine or cry to get his way. So we have to affirm him when he works hard and not pay as much attention when he complains. C & C think that much of Nathan’s resistance is behavioral because he simply doesn’t want to do things that are difficult for him.

* They modified his program. They took away patterning and incline plane and give him two different types of patterning. Tommorrow I will film the new program and show it. They also added basic tactile stimulation as he’s getting more curious and wanting to explore things with his hands.

* They asked us to give the program a fair trial. They asked if we temporarily drop some of the other programs that he’s doing and give their full program a try for a few weeks. That way we can see if the program can help Natha nor not. If we only do it half-way, Nathan may not be getting the proper frequency, intensity, and duration, so the program wouldn’t have the possibility of fully helping. I think it’s a very fair request and I am going to follow their advice 100%.

We start the program tommorrow. Here’s the new calendar:

Below are the exercises that each session will contain:

They also talked to us about nutrition. Here’s what we came up with:

Breakfeast
1 Fruit + Kefir + Crushed Almonds
2 Eggis + Tomatoes + Spinach + Mushrooms
3 Oatmeal with Stevia + Fruit
4 Shake with Rice Milk, Prunes, Oatmeal, Raisins, Banana, Almonds

Snack
1 Fruit
2 Hummus
3 Soy Pudding
4 Nutt butter with celery
5 Avocado
6 Tahini

Lunch
1 Vegetable (leafy greens, various)
1 Whole Grain (brown rice, qunoa, millet)
1 Protein (meat, chicken or fish)
2 Salad (blended, raw)

Snack
1 Fruit
2 Hummus
3 Soy Pudding
4 Nutt butter with celery
5 Avocado
6 Tahini

Dinner
1 Vegetable (leafy greens, various)
1 Whole Grain (brown rice, qunoa, millet)
1 Protein (meat, chicken or fish)

Notes
Lunch and dinner contain a protein, vegetable, and whole grain
Every meal should contain vegetables
Food should be as natural and organic as possible
Avoid dairy

I think this will give us a very good idea of whether or not this will help Nathan.

I promise to post some pictures and videos ASAP!