The benefit was a huge success!

The benefit was a huge success. We are able to continue the therapy that is so important for his development and even try some new ones. I am posting the thank you letter that appeared in the woodstock times this past week.


SINCERE GRATITUDE, APPRECIATION AND THANKSWe would like to thank all of the Valen-teers, donors, contributors and everyone who has supported us in this effort for Valen. We will undoubtedly forget a few names of those who are much appreciated, so please forgive us and know that you are not forgotten.To all who donated goods and services:Nina and Luc of Cafe with Love and Oriole 9; The amazing Elena Zang and Alan Hoffman; The Movement Center; The Moving Body; The Blue Pearl; Story Farms; Walkabout; Catherine Haber; Jan Bernhardt; Marci Elwood; Vasant; Joy and Bob Hausman; Nathan Brenowitz; e-bay wizard Laurie Schwartz; Anatolia; Sweetheart Gallery; Andrea Barrist Stern; Doug Grunther; Donald Elder; Judy Jamison; Jessica Houston; Evelyne Pouget; MC Mitch; Bev Davis and Karen Schneck; Sunflower; Woodstock Wonder Weeders; Ellenbogen; Advant Edge Accounting; Womanway; Pleasures; Jenna Houston and Larry Perl extordinare; Hair of the Dog; Roberta Finkel; The Jenny Rose Center; Gathered Creations; Woodstock Films; Linda Winnick; Kitty Caboodle; The Guilded Carriage; The Turning Mill; and Picadilly Paradise.To all of our Valenteers, our fabulous committee and to everyone who helped at the event- none of this would have been possible without you.A huge thank you to our terrific musicians, Wilson and Dean, Mambo Kikongo and Voodelic you brought the life to the event! And, thanks to The Colony Cafe for putting us up. Thank you to all of the businesses who took in cans, put up signs, spread the word and sold raffle tickets for us. Thank you to every one who came out to the event and those who were there in spirit and thank you to everyone who is sending us love and praying for Valen, we feel your support. Thank you all. This is probably the first annual Valen's day benefit and celebration, so we'll look forward to seeing you all again next year! In the meantime you will be able to read our progress reports on Valens website www.goodjobvalen.com.

The oxygen is working

We've been in the tank for 7 hours so far. I can see that the oxygen is working. Valen's attention span is increasing and his ability to look from one person to another without prompting is becoming more refined (tracking). He is doing well. The hardest part is trying to get some sleep at night as the oxygen causes his teeth to come in more quickly. I don't know why but without fail we have teething issues every time we come. The first time he cut 8 teeth in three weeks. No joke. Two nights ago, I was able to get him to repeat "ba"- 5 times in a row upon my request. He actually said it more like "aabaa", but you can imagine my delight. Communication is so essential and I feel like we are making progress there. I tried to get him to say it again last night but he wasn't in to it. I think he's teeth were hurting so I asked him to say "ow" if his teeth were hurting and he was very obviously trying to make the sound. The motor part of speaking is where we're getting hung up, but he was making sounds along with me and he felt much better after i put some orajel in his mouth. So far, so good. Be back with more updates soon.

Our first blog entry

We are gearing up for our next round of Hperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). We leave on Sunday July, 23rd and will be gone until August 4th. The month of August is chalked full of therapy. We will be traveling to the city to see Marcy Lindheimer (Feldenkrais) in conjunction with our full time regime of home based therapies. Then, around the first week of September we'll travel back to PA for the second half of the HBOT. While we're there we stay at the Super 8 in E. Stroudsburg. It's about 2 1/2 hours from our home in the Catskills so we have to get cozy. The therapy is twice a day for an hour per session so we have a lot of time to kill. I'll post more updates about what I'm seeing during the HBOT and some pictures as well.