Kai is continuing to thrive -- to see his annual video update, please click the link below.
Your love and ongoing support mean the world to us --we continue to be sustained by your HOPE and LOVE.
We truly couldn't do this without all of you ! It does TAKE A VILLAGE and we thank you for being ours.
~Neelama, Michael and Kai
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO:
Another year has passed on Kai's journey.
We documented the essence of this last year in this sweet and touching 10 minute movie. Our journey has been very POWER full and WONDER full thanks to ALL THE SUPPORT we have and continue to receive from Kai's very generous ANGELS and DONORS. Thank you for making this miracle possible !
All our love,
Kai, Neelama & Michael
CLICK HERE TO WATCH KAI's NEW MOVIE
UPDATE ON KAI'S PROGRESS
KAI WITH MONA--ONE OF THE TEACHER ASSISTANTS AT JACOB'S LADDER
Big changes are happening for our little prince. Since Aug. 23rd he attends a morning Special Needs Kindergarden together with 8 other kids, guided by his wonderful teacher and her two assistants.
Having Kai attend a public school/kindergarden for one year will potentially offer us some financial assistance in the years to come. As it turns out, he loves this school and the social interactions in a group setting is a great addition to the more individualized program at Jacob's Ladder.
The Kindergarden is quite structured and Kai learns to adjust to OTHERS, the beginning of the shift from 'ME to WE'. His social skills of learning self control, following the teacher's directions, respecting rights and properties of others, cleaning up, working and playing well with others are all skills that -- according to his first progress report -- are 'Satifactory'. I personnally doubt the part about 'others properties', because over the summer this was one of the main challenges in a public pool. The toys of all children are also his toys.
He also receives some short sessions in Occupational & Physical Therapy and a daily session of Speech therapy. HIs teacher at Jacob's Ladder, Mark, is very positive about this develoment, and feels that this combination of schools is working very well for Kai!
Kai is the happiest about riding in a school bus again between his 2 schools... although it's only for 3 miles ! So schoolbuses have again become the most favorite vehicles that we pass by on the roads in town, moving him into a sheer excitement and joy that for us maybe only a piece of delicious pie or choclade calls forth.
Kai contemplating the 'Point of Existence'.... what's the point of it all??
The answer is in his facial expression -...
Parents Report:
For us the most remarkable thing of his development is - how happy our little prince is. 99% of the time Kai wakes up Happy, --- please compare with your own number of happy wake ups. He is ready to go -life is play- let's go. Even the more structured school hasn't changed an iota of that, that is play too. Having to put chairs down, putting your backpack away and a ton of other structured and organized tasks haven't changed that. All is joy, whereas it easily could be experienced as quite a control.....as I experienced school at that age.
Another unusual occurrence for his age is, that Kai is still very much himself. Very early on we learn to please others, don't you agree ? As an example, Kai comes to school at JL and meets some of the teachers there and they want a High Five or a hug (he is extremely popular in wanting to receive hugs from by the mostly female staff...we will see how that will show up in his teenage years) and sometimes he gives one and in another moment he just says no and continues his way.
Regarding his inner state, there he is still very sweet, loves to 'merge' and 'hug' and his primary feeling state is joy. In a way, his delayed development has him kept connected to these inner states that most normal developing children grow out be 4,5 years
Lastly, Kai, as far as we can see, is not impacted yet, that he is 'different', 'delayed', 'a special needs child'. He is himself, a child in this case.
Late Summer Days swimming in Lake Lanier
Having a blast camping with Papa.
REPORT FROM MARK, KAI'S MAIN TEACHER AT JACOB'S LADDER
Kai calls now most teachers and students by their name and asks for what he wants usually with one word communication. We and his teachers are working on 3 word communications for everyday objects (ie: i want water, park, to eat, etc..) and kai is becoming more accustomed to this as of late.
Speech wise he can throw now 3 syllables together and his most used word in this department is 'Tram Po Line' which he approximates. We have a trampoline in the backyard and this is one of the most fun and wild times we spend together.
After school, first stop: "Tram poh leen"
His lip closure and tongue movement have improved to sound formations that promise a natural speech progression down the road, according to his teachers. The length of that "road" remains to be seen... the speed at which his speech develops can't be estimated yet. For example he can say the letter AH for the letter 'A' and then follow it up with the word 'Apple' . This he can do with nearly all the letters of the Alphabet. His process level is at a 2, with forrays into the threes, (3 syllables mentioned above) and his capacity to master 3 independent tasks is the next frontier.
Mark also sees abstract thinking coming in during school -- which indicates another level of brain development is happening.
Regarding fine motoric skills, the pre-requisite for writing, Kai now can connect horizontal and vertical dots with a marker and is moving towards drawing lines for writing letters down the road.
HAPPY BOY WITH HIS MAIN TEACHER MARK AT JACOB'S LADDER
We have heard from his NeuroFeedback practicioner that his brain wave activity has been measuring with great #'s the past few weeks. This could be due to the combination of his 2 schools, some new herbal/mineral brain supplementation we are trying, or just 'because'... The important thing here, is that it is hard 'factual data' that she can see on the screen -- in a shift of his brain wave activity towards where we want it to be. We will add an update on the more specific progress Kai is making in Neurofeedback once we receive the report from Jacob's Ladder.
Kai is moving in the right direction regarding speaking and is keeping his innocence and preciousness on the inner plane.
We are very grateful and cannot THANK ALL OF YOU enough for your wonderful love and support of us and particular our 'kleine Prinz', because in his case it does take a community to make Jacob's Ladder happening.
TWO BUDDHAS
All our gratitude to you and many blessings to all of your families and the children you hold in your hearts.
~Neelama, MIchael and Kai
YES it's true... Kai turned 6 and he had a great birthday!
The NEWEST DEVELOPMENTS ON KAI'S JOURNEY IN GEORGIA:
KAI IS POTTY TRAINED & VERY PROUD OF HIMSELF...
We worked on this for quite some time in Marin, but due to the progress Kai has made here he's now able to recognize and tell us when he needs to go "pee pee" or "poo poo". QUITE a breakthrough for him and for us (bye bye diapers.... FINALLY !). You can see how happy he is about this:
Last week marked Kai's 4th month at his new school and they evaluated and changed his program due to all of the progress he's made! Below i've written some highlights. NOTE: "Mastered" indicates he did the task 3 times consistently (on separate occasions). Some of the highlights include:
PRE-ACADEMIC SKILLS
RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE (this is the vocabulary that Kai has in his brain)
SPEECH DEVELOPMENT
SOCIALLY
Kai continues to love and be intrigued by people of all ages! The teachers at school have unanimously fallen in love with him and he has been very caring and affectionate with many of the children there.
I've been told on more than one occasion that Kai, upon seeing a child that was upset or just "down", went to him/her and gave a big hug and kiss. This says alot about his emotional intelligence and the sweet boy that he is! He is VERY talkative and outgoing during his circle/social time with the other kids at school and still LOVES music and dancing!
KAI JOINED A SPECIAL NEEDS BASEBALL TEAM
What to say....it's totally adorable!
TO OUR DEAR FRIENDS, FAMILY, ANGELS AND DONORS TO KAI,
Please know that ALL OF THIS PROGRESS would not be possible without your support! We cannot THANK YOU all enough for giving this little guy a chance to reach all that is possible for him in this Life! Please know that we feel held and surrounded by all of your love and generosity. You have enriched our lives and given us the foundation of love and financial support to pursue this opportunity.
OUR IMMENSE GRATITUDE & LOVE,
Neelama, Michael and YOU KNOW WHO!
TO Kai's Angels (monthly donors)
THANK YOU ALL for your continued and ongoing support -- YOU are making it possible for Kai to create a breakthrough in his brain. Faced with a large tuition bill, with the help of our dear friends Maria and Britta, we began an "Angel Campaign" back in February to build a solid base of support for our little guy.
When we started our Angel Campaign, we had just 8 Angels.
As of today, Kai has 44 Angels supporting him on his journey and is only $500 away from our monthly goal .... WOW.... ! What a blessing of love and support --- We are forever grateful for all of you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts...
IF YOU HAVEN"T SEEN THE VIDEO, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK ABOVE to see the incredible school and changes in Kai!
All our love,
Neelama, Michael and Kai
JACOB'S LADDER:
A Neuro-Developmental Learning Center
DEAR FRIENDS....We finally made it to JACOB'S LADDER SCHOOL IN GEORGIA! After months of research we decided that this was the best opportunity for Kai to have a chance of talking! While the earlier therapies in Marin were great for his physical abilities & body, we have now found a program specifically targeted towards his speech!
TO find out more about this school,
please visit their website: Jacob's Ladder Center
and watch their video:Jacob's Ladder Video
Children like Kai, with major brain deficiencies, require intensive, frequent, individualized therapy if they have a chance of creating a breakthrough in their brain. Think of stroke victims or accident survivors and the amount of individual therapy required to get them back to 'normal' functioning. It's the same for a child with a major brain deficit: the likelihood of catching up in a normal school environment is almost impossible. The brain needs a "boot camp" in order to create the new pathways needed for real change!
Jacob's Ladder is such a Boot Camp...
After a very thorough evaluation with the founder, she designed an individual program geared towards Kai's unique neurological challenges and deficits. She and her team target the specific areas where Kai struggles and 'drill' them daily to help the brain create new pathways and change!
Every morning we begin our day with one hour of HYPERBARIC OXYGEN therapy. Mom or Dad go into the tank with Kai and take in TONS of oxygen which has immense benefits to brain growth and health. Here is Kai reading a book while in the tank, or "spaceship" as we call it....just this morning.
After oxygen therapy, Kai goes with his private teacher and his day is full of individual therapy which includes:
Neurofeedback
Speech Therapy
Oral Motor Therapy
Sensory Work
Auditory Processing
Tactility, Visual and Language Work
Sound Therapy
Music Therapy
.....As you can see, it is QUITE A BOOT CAMP!
Kai is doing well and loves going to school. He is doing well in this very intensive program and is ALREADY showing signs of progress!
Here's the HAPPY BOY!
Kai has had a FUN FILLED summer!
The best investment of the summer was our membership at the community pool in San Rafael, just down the street from Kai's afternoon preschool.
Here are some pictures of Kai in the water with his Dad (aka "papa). We took Kai there on most days as it was a very HOT summer here.
The pool is one of Kai's FAVORITE places to be. This summer he began learning how to swim. He loves the doggy paddle, and is great at putting his head into the water. Soon he'll be out-swimming his parents!
Kai also spent a few weeks this summer visiting his OMA (grandma) and OPA (grandpa) in upstate NY. He had a ball...had plenty of sleep and lots of activity and good food! Kai got introduced to ice cream, by his OMA.... and loves it... (what kid doesn't?!)
This July, Kai graduated from Marindale School. This was a 2 year preschool program designed to help Kai and other children with developmental delays.
Kai was part of a wonderful play and language based program and was surrounded by loving teachers, therapists and students.
This was a bittersweet day, as we are happy that Kai is growing and moving on to Kindergarten, but also sad for him to leave this Class and all the friends he's made there!
THANK YOU to all the teachers and loving people at MARINDALE SCHOOL.
We appreciate all you've given to Kai~!