The PEACE Fund Helping Hands Blog

A note from Will's Mom,

"Thank you so much for your support. Will has been back at his therapy horseback riding for a couple of weeks and truly enjoying it. On his first day he rode on Hurdie, an Icelandic horse, a small, very beautiful gray horse. Will has only really ridden on smaller therapy horses. But the following week the therapist thought Will would benefit from riding a larger horse…so Will got to ride on Austin. Oh boy when he got up on that horse you could just see the pride he felt being on a BIG Horse…sitting up so tall and looking at me to make sure that I’m looking at him. The horseback riding has been so beneficial for Will, helping to strengthen his core and stretch his legs muscles, giving him better mobility and balance. But much more than that is that he’s finding joy in something that his own. Something that with all his limitations he can tell the horse to “walk on” by tapping on his mane and can make the horse “whoa” by pulling on the reigns, and the horse listens. And just like when his older brothers were playing sports and did something good and looked for me to make sure I was watching, Will looks at me and smiles and he tells Austin to “walk on”."

Thank you again.

Mary Nugent

What an amazing piece of technology! As you will see in the video, Livy is able to track shapes on the screen by moving the cursor with her eyes. The games she can play engage her and allow her to get used to the system by following objects as they float or crisscross on the screen. We can't help but feel hopeful that as Livy matures with the system, it will open the doors to a new way of learning.

A month ago, she went through a really tough period with increased seizure activity. Many times, it is hard to determine what is causing the flair up. It would be wonderful if she could tell us by using her eyes that something is bothering her or she generally doesn't feel well. Perhaps the balloons on the screen will someday be replaced with picking which body part hurts. Or the floating bubbles will be exchanged for yes and no buttons. But until then, we hope the system is one more way to engage her and let her feel a bit more freedom to interact in her world.

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for everyone that helped support Jordan's education. The help he received helped him academically and emotionally. Jordan learned confidence, discipline and accountability. Your help made a tremendous impact on his grades. The tutoring was amazing for him and helped him catch up. Thank you all again. Thank you Adrian Paul and the board members of the Helping Hand. A special thanks to Mrs. Lori you have played a huge role in Jordan getting back on track. I am forever grateful!

Thanks again.

Jordan went on field trip to San Fernando Mission in Los Angeles on Monday. Jordan learned about priests and what they did. The class went into the oldest two-story building in California. Jordan took pictures of a few things he liked. Jordan said "Mom, I'm disturbed by some the statues and pictures, they where lots of Jesus with nails in him with blood and naked people". It was funny he was creeped out. All that said Jordan really seemed to like his 18th century experience.

We are happy to tell everyone that Livy's Tobii Eye Gaze system has arrived! We received it over the holidays and it made a wonderful gift for Livy to unwrap. She needed a little help and her twin Hailey was more than willing to lend a hand. There will definitely be a learning curve for Livy to use the technology (as well as mom and dad) but we have support from her therapist and will be working with Tobii to make sure we get it right. We look forward to sharing Livy's progress over the coming weeks and months. We want to say a very big thank you to Adrian Paul and the rest of the team at the Peace Fund and all those who contributed during the fundraising. Our family is grateful for your amazing support!