March 1998

June 1999

August 20, 2002

We have just returned from Philadelphia and Brian's most recent Brain-Net evaluation.  We have had several requests from other parents  to update Brian's page as he has worked so hard and progressed so far since last checking in. Also we are including an article that appeared in the local PA paper two years ago where we meet for Brain-Net twice yearly.  This article is two years old but I thought it might interest some of you.  You can click here if you would like to read it and find out more about how the Brain-Net program works. 

Last year Brian attended mainstream public school classrooms at his grade level almost full time.  He attended special ed classroom only for Occupational therapy and speech therapy.  Brian has maintained a grade average high enough to remain on the Dean's list.  He also won second prize in a poetry contest with a poem titled "I can-I can." He is one grade level behind his peers because of remaining in a coma for such a long time after his injury.

One piece of really good news is that Brian, previously limited to
communicating by sign-language, is now using words and sentences.  Most words and sentences are still imperfect and somewhat difficult to understand, but week by week Brian is sounding clearer. He has a wonderful new speech therapist who does lots of oral stimulation with him.

We have added new pictures. One shows Brian in his wheelchair last winter, playing with one of his eight cousins.  Another shows Brian standing upright, playing on his Challenger baseball team "The Tigers" this picture was taken late spring 2002.

Brian is not seeing yet but this doesn't stop him from doing much including playing Baseball.  Brian walks for longer stretches and does not use his wheelchair much at school.  We still need it for when he is tired and for longer stretches like shopping and airport terminals.

Brian is beginning to use his left hand and arm which has trailed
significantly behind his right hand and arm.  He still has problems closing his the fingers on his left hand to make a fist and trouble opening the fist once he has closed it.  He continues to need the help of "Righty" to help Lefty" However he can raise his left arm almost straight up over his head now (there was a time when the range was severely limited."

Brian has a great time at school, loves to play in water and 'swim." He also loves to dance to music.  He's a great kid and says "Hi" to his many friends out there who are also struggling to recover from brain injuries Bruce and Maria say "HI" to the caretakers and parents of kids who are recovering from brain injuries.