Aphasia and Dyspraxia

Well, firstly - we have got the front door sussed!! Yay!! Got in and out this morning really well. We have had the best day with lots of smiles and laughs. Physio this morning and then a visit from Pete's brother, Gary. We both had a snooze this afternoon!
I decided to talk about how the aphasia and dyspraxia affects Pete. The dyspraxia is not such a problem as it is small mistakes with tasks and we soon remedy these. I mentioned about not quite getting the right utensils but he only needs to be reminded once or twice. When first making cups of tea he used to try to get the sugar out with his hands and also tried to get butter with fingers, also would pour from the side of a jug rather than the spout. But these are all now in the past. The odd thing is, when he first came home and he saw me trying to bleed the radiators (always his job) he immediately went off and got the right screwdriver and sponge from where he always kept them, also when the DVD player went wrong he immediately knew it was the scart come out. Doesn't make sense does it. It almost seems the more technical things are the better he knows.
The aphasia is our major problem. Pete has lost all the tools of communication - speech, writing, drawing and gesturing. Again this is an odd situation in that if I was to write a list of fruits and then ask him which said 'apple', he could point to it straight away. If I then drew an apple he would make a very good attempt to copy it, but then turn the page and ask him to write 'apple' or draw one and he really really thinks about it but doesn't know where to start. So, although there are excellent apps for the iPad which will talk for you, these do not work for us. Similarly, the gesturing is difficult for him. Sometimes he will point to what he wants without thinking, but other times he just can't seem to get the concept of pointing. Also he can say yes and no, but occasionally a yes is accompanied by a shake of the head or vice versa, so have to repeat the question. He can do the thumbs up and down but has to be prompted to use them. Still, we struggle on regardless!! But, when he wants to just say something out of his head, we can go round and round trying to get what he is saying, sometimes with no success so have to give up. This must be incredibly frustrating for him. Try this for yourself with a partner/friend/relative - one of you has no communication but thinks of something they want to say, the other one has to try to establish what it is by a series of questions. Again, not easy.
Well, enough of our problems for today, we are ending the day on a real high as have just got emails from Adrian and my sister, Wendy. Adrian is hoping to come home from Bristol with his partner, Amie for a visit and also Wendy is coming for a day next week. . Team this with the fact that we are going to Martin's on Sunday for lunch (cooked by his lovely wife, Mel) and , tonight, we feel life couldn't be better for us!