School Update

GREAT NEWS!

I spoke with Special Care School (see previous post) today and Cole is IN! She said she will call me by the end of this week after they have moved everyone but it looks like he may be starting the third week of August.

I can't believe it! I am so excited as I KNOW this will be the best thing for him but I am also SO scared because we have not gotten the donations we thought we would and we can not afford this on our own.

It is time to get Cole's story out there more and pray that we get donations in before he starts.

ST & Swallow Therapy

We have now added speech therapy and swallow therapy to our busy agenda.

Our speech therapist, Lindy (from Sooner Start), comes to the house to work with Cole every other Tuesday. She is awesome! You would think, because of the name of it, that this therapy would be for speech, right? Well, Lindy does so much more.

In ST we do work on Cole's speech...at least the long term goal is to help him to be able to speak. Their are so many small steps before learning to speak. Just forming the mouth to make simple sounds and learning to use the tongue. We are introducing Cole to ASL (American Sign Language). This will be great for Cole even if he learns to speak with no problems.

Lindy suggested a swallow study be done to make sure whatever we put into Cole's mouth will go down properly and with no blockages. She wanted to make sure he didn't get any fluid in his lungs and see why he chokes any time we try to give him new foods.

We made an appointment at Mercy Hospital and had the swallow study. Luckily, everything went down the way it should. We met Amy, his swallow therapist, and she said she felt it was more of a sensory issue. Cole doesn't like new/different textures in his mouth so he gags when we try to give him table food.

Now, to swallow therapy! Amy (from Mercy Therapy) is a speech therapist but is working with Cole specifically on swallowing. Cole can not (or will not) eat anything but baby food, baby cereal and still takes bottles. He has only had his initial session but I feel he did great. Amy gave us a cool NUK nubby tool and she used a vibrating spoon to try to 'desensitize' his mouth. He even ate some small peach chunks. Way to go Cole!

DONATIONS PLEASE!!

$680 per month! $8,160 per year!

This is the amount of money we will HAVE to find a way to get donated so that my beautiful baby that has cerebral palsy can get the best possible assistance for him to try to live a 'normal' life.

We are trying to raise this money to send Cole to Special Care School (as stated in a previous post) and we have finally set up Cole's Trust account so that friends, family and even strangers (if they feel it in their heart to help) can donate.

We also previously posted about the help we are getting from John Connor...he has pledged to donate and to find donations from others through the baseball fields but we will still have to get donations to add to this and for years to come to be able to 'keep' Cole in this school.

Do you have an 'adopted' child from another country that you donate to? Do you donate to a charity not knowing where that money is dispersed? Why not donate to help a child you know and to a place you will 'know' every penny you donate will be helping this child. Even just $1 a week would help...no amount is too small. We would love and appreciate for you to adopt Cole and follow his progress here on his blog!!

You can donate by giving to the Cole Keathley Support Trust to any teller at any MidFirst Bank or mailing to us (for those of you that know us and have our address) or by mailing to....

Cole Keathley Support Trust
% MidFirst Bank
5800 N. Western
OKC, OK 73118

We want to THANK YOU! in advance.

Special thanks to Ed Daniel and John Conner!