7,056 miles. That's how many miles I've driven Jude to therapy in the last year. It's 56 miles to Witwer Children's Therapy center in Hiawatha. That's 112 miles round trip. We do this every Monday for a reason: The services and people there are worth the drive everytime.
When we first started going, Jude couldn't physically hold the iPad to entertain himself during the ride, let alone run the programs. I had to hook it onto the back of my headrest. Usually I'd pull off on a ramp to change the show if it abruptly ended. I'm happy to report that now Jude can hold it and he can run it--freely changing videos and switching between Thomas the Train and Wreck It Ralph. He wears headphones. But he can't fix them if they fall off. So we use a sport headband to keep them on. We get some strange looks in drive-thru windows but whatever it takes, right?
So why do we go to therapy? Jude has a hard time talking and we do 30 minutes of speech therapy. Then we go across the hall to occupational therapy (OT). Why would a kid need occupational therapy? Because Jude's "job" is to play and OT helps him do this. It involves strengthening his upper body, working on near-to-far movements of the eyes, developing fine and gross motor skills, sensory process development (especially for food and texture aversions), improving self care (putting on and taking off clothes) and Integrated Listening System therapy.
Last summer we traded in our Caravan for a Prius. We get almost 50 miles per gallon (versus 15 in the van). It has saved us a ton on fuel and I really like driving it. But there are unique qualities to Prius drivers. So I bring you ...
You might drive a Prius:
1. If you initially think the nozzle is broken at the gas station when it clicks off at $28 dollars
2. If you need a 3 block gap before you pull out in front of anyone
3. If you pass someone and wonder what's wrong with their full-sized car
4. (the flipside) if you get passed by another Prius and smugly think you're getting better gas mileage than them
5. If you've left your car running in the driveway for more than 3 hours and thought it was off (resetting all previous gas mileage smugness)
These are all true. I still love my Prius. And I love my Jude. No matter how many miles we have left to travel. I'll always be your travel buddy.
Poem to follow shortly ... Time to go pick up my travel buddy from school.
When we first started going, Jude couldn't physically hold the iPad to entertain himself during the ride, let alone run the programs. I had to hook it onto the back of my headrest. Usually I'd pull off on a ramp to change the show if it abruptly ended. I'm happy to report that now Jude can hold it and he can run it--freely changing videos and switching between Thomas the Train and Wreck It Ralph. He wears headphones. But he can't fix them if they fall off. So we use a sport headband to keep them on. We get some strange looks in drive-thru windows but whatever it takes, right?
So why do we go to therapy? Jude has a hard time talking and we do 30 minutes of speech therapy. Then we go across the hall to occupational therapy (OT). Why would a kid need occupational therapy? Because Jude's "job" is to play and OT helps him do this. It involves strengthening his upper body, working on near-to-far movements of the eyes, developing fine and gross motor skills, sensory process development (especially for food and texture aversions), improving self care (putting on and taking off clothes) and Integrated Listening System therapy.
Last summer we traded in our Caravan for a Prius. We get almost 50 miles per gallon (versus 15 in the van). It has saved us a ton on fuel and I really like driving it. But there are unique qualities to Prius drivers. So I bring you ...
You might drive a Prius:
1. If you initially think the nozzle is broken at the gas station when it clicks off at $28 dollars
2. If you need a 3 block gap before you pull out in front of anyone
3. If you pass someone and wonder what's wrong with their full-sized car
4. (the flipside) if you get passed by another Prius and smugly think you're getting better gas mileage than them
5. If you've left your car running in the driveway for more than 3 hours and thought it was off (resetting all previous gas mileage smugness)
These are all true. I still love my Prius. And I love my Jude. No matter how many miles we have left to travel. I'll always be your travel buddy.
Poem to follow shortly ... Time to go pick up my travel buddy from school.