I see a trend when I look at photos from this week. Nathaniel continually has his head down on the table or is laying down. He is still not feeling well. I have been advocating for a clear diagnosis of a respiratory infection for three weeks. I think we finally have a treatment plan. However, it is late Friday afternoon and I'm still working with the pharmacy and doctor's office to get the medication we need in a form that is easy for Nathaniel to take. We have not needed his g-tube for anything, including medications, since early June. It seems this illness might require using the tube again.

Nathaniel's medical conditions stole time from being a student this week. He has recently experienced some complications with his trach stoma, and we think he might have a respiratory infection. Thankfully, we've managed at home, which is a huge improvement for this kid who used to need ICU support for minor viruses. But we've been to the doctor a number of times and have added additional treatments to our routine. He hasn't been sleeping well, which means I haven't slept well.

This week the augmentative alternative communication (AAC) activities in our homeschool focused on the words DAY, SORRY, TOGETHER, JOB. I selected these from the PrAACtical AAC August core words list one.  This was a bit harder set of words for Nathaniel and I. All were on a second screen of his app, Speak for Yourself. I was still needing to use the app's search feature to find the words on Wednesday. Thank goodness we only have to navigate two screens to find each word.

At our last augmented communication team session, one of the therapists asked me how Nathaniel does with books. "Oh," I thought to myself, "we're doing great here. They will be so impressed!" Out loud I said, "Really well! We read ten to fifteen books a day. We get books from the library. We have set times through out the day when we read. And we use the talker while reading too!" They asked for further explanation on my last point.

I have read to Nathaniel since his first day home. Shared moments of reading between parent and child is foundational to my understanding of child rearing. My mother read to me. My Aunt Beccy kept stacks of books in her car for her children and other young riders. My mother's cousin was an elementary school teacher and gave me most of her classroom library when she retired. I was nineteen. I had children's books before I had children. Through our years of homeschooling, reading books aloud has been a pivotal aspect of our curriculum and our family's day.