Only one of the reasons I love my job!

Today I had the privilege of watching one of my students gain some independence he has never had before. I have known him since he turned 3 and work with him weekly during the school year. He has been in a wheelchair since he was about 4 and today he got his first power wheelchair. He was so excited he was sqeeling in the gym when he was spinning in circles and going "full out." He loved it. I have no words to describe the feeling of watching him explore the speed and spinning and just being able to move so freely and easily! Below are a few pictures I took. There is more to the story also. He and his family have been in my thoughts and prayers much recently as well. His insurance company originally denied the request for a power wheelchair. The reason was something to the effect that he needed too much supervision. His parents and I appealed the denial and it was eventually approved. During this whole process, his church raised some money to help cover the cost. Since the insurance company changed their mind, the money raised by their church can now be used to help the family purchase a lift for the full size van they recently purchased (another deal.) In talking with the family this afternoon, plans are in the works for a lift to be installed in the van. The lift they found was another answer to prayer! Our God is so good!

Here is the link to the public facebook page where I posted the pics (with his mom's permission) from this afternoon. Just copy and paste into your browser window.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=291782&l=cfd55&id=1021023776