Lack of Reason or Logic

Over the years I've tried to figure out how to describe Kimmie's disabilities, her limitations. I tell people how she spells and reads sight words on a fourth grade level, has an amazing memory, knows her way around town, and has a very good sign vocabulary. They are always surprised. She's much smarter than people realize. But how do I convey what's lacking? How can she know so much but be as significantly disabled as she is?

The answer that we've come up with is that she simply lacks reasoning skills, is unable to follow logic patterns, and doesn't understand consequences.

Math is a logical, reasoning based subject and it tends to be her weakest. Of course, we aren't sure if it is her weakest subject because she doesn't understand it or because it does not interest her.

Kimmie knows what happens if she pushes a certain button or flips a switch, but more complex consequences she cannot grasp. For instance, if she throws a DVD box, we take it away and put it in the top of the cupboard. If she gets mad and has a DVD box in her hand, we will try to warn her that if she throws it we will take it away; however, she cannot follow the sentence through to the consequences. All she hears is throw and that's what she does. When we put the movie up, she doesn't seem to understand why. This has been repeated many, many times over the years and she still cannot link the movie being put UP, to the action of her throwing it.

Kimmie is amazing at following the calendar, remembering what day of the week it is and what number the day is. She remembers events, what day of the week they occurred and in which month--like going to the dentist on a Thursday in October or having a shot on a Monday in March two years ago. But if she wants to do something today and we tell her we have something else and cannot do that until another day, she'll have a melt down. If we tell her we are going to take sister someplace, drop her off, and go to a restaurant or go shopping, Kimmie is very happy. She loves to shop and go to restaurants, but waiting through the first activity of dropping her sister off is often too much for her. She can't understand and follow the progression of events.

Memory based things she is good at. Things that take more processing, analysis, well, that's where she's lacking.

Maybe that helps you understand Kimmie's disabilities, how she can be so smart and so disabled at the same time. And writing it out will help me explain it in the future when asked.

--Mom

Christmas Tree

Well, we finally have our Christmas tree up. Whew!

I was going to put it up last weekend. I asked Kimmie if I should put the Christmas tree up. She said yes. I told her there would not be any gifts under it yet, would it still be ok to put up the tree, if there are no gifts? "No."

It upsets Kimmie if there are no gifts under the tree. So, last weekend, I wrapped instead of putting the tree up. For a week we have had a pile of gifts in the corner. Kimmie has checked on them regularly to make sure they are still there. (While I was wrapping, she showed me the Winnie the Pooh paper I was to use to wrap hers.)

Yesterday, we finally had time to put the tree up. Kimmie was all smiles and especially liked seeing the gifts under it. She checked on our progress regularly. Tree. Tree with gifts under it. Tree with lights. And, eventually, tree with lights and ornaments! She was very happy. She still checks regularly to make sure the gifts are there.

Oh, and the stockings are up, too. That made her happy. I even put gifts in them. We'll see if they last until Christmas. One year we found her sitting with a gift from her stocking in front of her. She had not opened it. She just had it out and sat there looking at it.

Bethany is counting down with Kimmie each day. The math is a little too much for Kimmie, but she knows Christmas is 25, and she knows today is 12.

--Mom

Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago we took the girls to have some pictures taken. Big sister needed a good "head shot" for an event she's participating in, and Kimmie, well, we wanted some good pictures of her. She's a hard one to photograph and it had been a long time since she'd taken a really good school picture. Plus, she's considered a senior this year, so we really needed to get some senior pictures taken. She'll be a senior again next year, too.

I picked the studio because they do a lot of photos of babies and small children hoping they would be able to deal with Kimmie.

Kimmie did amazingly well, in spite of wanting to play with all their props. I was moving from one side of the room to the other trying to get her to look or sit or stand facing this way or that way. The photographer had to be quick to get a few shots taken before she was off to investigate some other prop she'd spotted and wanted to check out.

But all in all we were able to get some very good pictures of her. Whew!

At one point she spotted a football. She grabbed it up, tucked it under her right arm, stuck out her left arm and ran across the room, just like she does at home whenever we watch football. The photographer's face lit up and he says, "I have a football background."

We laughed and said, "Sure, that would be fine."

He pulled it down and mumbled something about her not be dressed for it. We just laughed and said, "That's ok. It just adds to the incongruity of her playing football."


Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Football Season!

--Mom

PS: For more on her football moves, read December 11, 2009 post entitled "Football."

Cute

A few weeks ago I was picking Kimmie up after Sunday School. The teachers in her class were laughing. They said they asked her if she knew she was cute. Kimmie shook her head yes. That struck them really funny, that Kimmie agreed she was cute.

It's actually a family joke.

Big sister has this conversation regularly with Kimmie.

Bethany: "Are you cute?" (Imagine exaggerated inflection.)

Kimmie: "Yes."

Bethany laughing.

We've been telling her she's cute for 19 years. She has no reason to think otherwise. Yes, she knows she's cute!

--Mom

Ambulance

For a year now we have been hearing about the hospital, sleeping in the hospital bed, the brown medicine the doctor put on her back, and the dreaded blood pressure cuff.

Well, now Kimmie has something new to talk about. Riding in the ambulance "car" . . . to the hospital . . .on the bed. Oh, and the dreaded blood pressure cuff.

I think the fact that she effectively fought off the blood pressure cuff convinced the EMS guys that she was fine.

At least it is something different, well sort of, and new to talk about.

--Mom

Unexpected Adventure

A couple nights ago, Dad and Kimmie and I made one of our excursions to Sam's Club to refill the cupboards. When you have a 16-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 21-year-old and Mom and Dad, you consume a lot of food.

Our shopping trip took an unexpected turn.

We had filled our cart with various groceries and then swung past the movies for Kimmie to pick one out. She had been very good while we were shopping. She picked a movie, but as we moved to the check-out area, she changed her mind and wanted to go back. We had taken a place in line and were trying to calm her down, when out of the blue she began to have a seizure.

I was looking right at her when it started and immediately knew what was happening. I told Dad and he began to try to lift her out of the cart to lay her down. A young male employee happened to be walking by, so Dad asked him to help lift her out of the seat. The young man quickly put down what he was carrying and helped.

After Kimmie was securely in Dad's arms he told the young man that he needed to lay her down someplace quiet. (And I'm thinking, "and not concrete.") We were all looking around for some place safe to lay her down when I noticed what the young man had set on the floor--a cash register drawer of money! I thought, "I hope no one steals that while he's trying to help us."

When I turned back to Dad and looked at Kimmie I realized that she had stopped moving, stopped breathing, her lips were blue and her skin was gray. There was blood on her lip and I could not tell if it was from her lip or coming from her mouth. I told Dad her lips were blue and blood was coming from her mouth. I heard voices around me asking if we needed EMS and Dad saying to call 911 NOW. As we were moving to lay her on the floor I quickly pulled out my phone and called 911. Someone tossed a few clothing items our way which were placed under Kimmie's head.

When I had the 911 operator on the phone, she wanted to know our location. I responded with the Sam's Club. The operator said she needed an exact address. I asked the employees milling around us, and they gave me the street name. I told them I needed the number. They started calling out numbers, but they weren't the same numbers. They finally agreed on a number and the operator was satisfied.

Then the operator wanted to know where in the store we were. I said by the check-out lanes. "Which lane?" (She was starting to frustrate me.) I quickly told her lane 13, although I didn't think they'd have any trouble finding us, but I also don't think the employees milling about us were organized enough to think about having someone at the door to direct EMS. And I wasn't sharp enough to tell them to send someone to the door to watch for the ambulance.

By this time Kimmie's color was improving and she was moving around a bit. Dad was crouched over her making sure she was breathing. The 911 operator was still talking in my ear. She wanted to know how old Kimmie was. I said 19. She said 19-year old female. I said yes. Then she asked another question, I started to answer it when I heard one of the voices around me ask, "How old is she?" I said, "She's 19." Then realized I'd already told the 911 operator that. Then I hear this echo of voices around me. "She's 19?" "She's 19." "How old is she?" "She's 19."

Kimmie's color was returning but she had a lot of blotchy red spots on her cheek and on her neck. I heard someone say, "She may have bit her tongue or lip" and I thought, "that's probably where the blood came from."

The 911 operator asked me which hospital we wanted to go to. I told her the children's hospital. She then points out that Kimmie is 19. I quickly pointed out that Kimmie is developmentally disabled, had surgery at the children's hospital just last year, and that they have all her records.

Eventually I looked up to see EMS coming across the store rolling a guerney. There seemed to be a lot of men, but as they came closer there were just two. Kimmie was quickly picked up, put on the guerney, strapped down . . . . and then they started with the dreaded blood pressure cuff. She was quickly fighting mad!

They finally gave that up and rolled her out to the ambulance. That's when I realized why I thought there were a lot of men. There were about six firemen, a fire truck, the ambulance, and the two paramedics. The paramedic who was going to ride in the back advised me that no one is allowed to ride in the back with the patient, but he'd make an exception this time and let me ride with Kimmie. Did he really think there was any chance of taking Kimmie without me? I don't think they would have gotten out of the parking lot before realizing what a bad idea it was to NOT take me with him. She would have gone completely ballistic. Even with me there she was fussing and trying to get off the guerney.

Before we left the store I glanced around to make sure we had all our stuff, except the cart of groceries which we left. I realized at this time that the drawer of cash was gone. I assume the young man retrieved it. I certainly hope so.

When you pull the story apart and look at certain parts of it, it can be almost comical.

But there is not anything comical about looking at your child who has gone completely still, has blue lips and gray skin. Scariest thing I've ever seen. Took my breath away. All I could think was, "I'm not ready to lose her."

--Mom

P.S. Kimmie is doing fine. Dad and I are still recovering!

Dancing with Pooh Bear

In general, Kimmie likes "boy" movies like Aladdin, Ben10, Danny Phantom, Batman, and Superman, but now and then we override her choices and put in a more "girly" movie.

This week big sister reintroduced Kimmie to the movie Anastasia. Surprisingly, Kimmie has asked to watch it three more times.

The cutest part is when Anastasia is imagining a dance in a large ballroom. Kimmie always gets her biggest Pooh Bear, holds him in a dance pose, and then dances around the room. It's really cute.

Yesterday she was doing that when we had a guest at our house. There were lots of "aahh"s.

--Mom

Little People

Kimmie has been the smallest in our family for a long time. She has also been the smallest in her school classes for many years.

She's so used to being the smallest that she's not sure what to do with people littler than her.

Generally she keeps her distance from kids. If there are a lot of kids playing somewhere, she will just watch and not go close. If there are just a couple, she might get closer. She never approaches them or tries to play with them, but she might want to play with one of the toys.

She likes to go to playgrounds. She doesn't "play" much at them. Usually she takes the steps up to a spot where she can look around, and then she watches the children. If they get too close to her, she gets anxious. I think the reason they bother her is because they move quickly and sometimes abruptly, darting here and there. It may make her feel like she could lose her balance as they run around her.

She's the same way with animals. Dogs and cats move too quickly and in unpredictable ways. Larger animals, like horses, don't move so suddenly. She's afraid of dogs and cats, but fine with horses.

Sometimes children approach Kimmie. This really gets her aggitated. She doesn't have a clue what to do with children who try to talk to her. She's not sure what they are going to do or what they want. Often children will watch Kimmie, curious about her, especially when they see her signing.

I always feel sorry for the kids who want to be Kimmie's friend. It's hard for them to understand that she's not comfortable with them.

--Mom

Adventures in Bathtime

A few weeks ago I told Dad that I thought we needed to buy a bath chair for Kimmie.

Since her scoliosis surgery, she has just not been comfortable sitting in the bathtub. Sitting with her legs straight out in front of her is uncomfortable.

Getting her sat down and back up is another issue. When you sit down in a bathtub, you curl your back forward to balance yourself. That's something Kimmie cannot do with the rods in her back. I would have to hang onto her when she's sitting down so she doesn't fall backwards. And then getting her stood back up when everythings wet . . . challenging.

To solve all those problems, we bought her a bath stool. The first time we used it I wondered if she would balk at sitting on it, but she plopped herself right down and sat there like it was her royal throne. She loved it and said it was more comfortable.

The bath stool has made bathtimes more of an adventure for me. The adventure is in trying to keep the water IN the bathtub and not on me and the floor. I've tried positioning the chair different ways, but there always seems to be a body part the water runs off of and onto me and the floor. Elbows. Knees. Shoulders.

But, all in all, the bath stool has been a huge success . . . much less strain for both of us. One of the best purchases we have ever made.

Only problem is what to do with her collection of plastic ducks. The ones she used to play with in the bathtub. Especially those special plastic ducks she picked out from the dentist's treasure box!

--Mom

A New School Year

Today is day 14 of this school year, so we almost have three weeks under our belt.

We expected it would be a rather smooth transition. After all, this is the beginning of Kimmie's fourth year of high school, her fourth year with the same teacher and her third year with the same signing aide. Many of her classmates are probably the same.

Of course, she did have a new bus driver and bus aide to break in.

However, there was one little difference this year. Kimmie's sister, for the first time ever, leaves for school before Kimmie.

For some reason, seeing her sister leave each morning really upset Kimmie. Bethany tried sneaking out of the house, but Kimmie would look around and know that Bethany was "all gone" and still be upset. Kimmie would be "mad, mad, mad" getting on her bus. At school, she would remember, and fuss because Bethany was "all gone, school."

Kimmie is very attached to her sister, but we really weren't sure why she was so upset.

Did she not realize that Bethany went to school?
Was she worried that Bethany would not be home when she arrived home?
Did she think that Bethany was at home all day waiting for her bus to return?
Was she worried no one would be home when her bus returned?

We really don't know, but for the first 10 days of school she cried and was mad every morning when she climbed on her bus. She would bring it up at school and would fuss.

But, on Day 11, she was happy when she climbed on her bus, and she had a great day at school. She has been happy ever since and has had good days at school. Whew!

We only have a 4-day streak going, and it could snap at any moment, but we'll take it for now. The bus driver and bus aide seem to have relaxed this week, and they seem to be smiling more.

Kimmie's sister wonders, "What will Kimmie do when I go off to college?"

--Mom

Baby Panda

Kimmie loves panda bears. She has for years. In fact, she has quite a collection of stuffed pandas, panda movies, panda books, panda t-shirts and panda pajamas.

She has an amazing capacity for sitting and watching documentary type movies about panda bears. Of course, what are most of these movies about? --Having babies to keep the panda from becoming extinct. We know all about the birthing and baby stages.

Kimmie has decided that she has a baby panda in her tummy. She points at her belly button and tells us there's a baby panda there. Then she tells us we need to go to the hospital to get out the baby panda.

I think that could probably be interpreted to mean that Kimmie wants a pet panda!

--Mom

Bathtime

I was giving Kimmie a bath the other night. While I was shampooing, and soaping and rinsing her, she was singing. She was probably singing to herself, not to me.

First she sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Next she sang Away in a Manger.

Then I believe, from the signs I saw, that she was signing a song we used to sing many years ago. It was a Sesame Street song. I think Ernie sang it. Some of the words were, "Oh I'd like to visit the moon . . ." The second verse was about visiting the sea, "I'd go for a day, if I had my wish, but there's not much to do when your friends are all fish."

The last song she sang was from a music video, from many years ago. The music video featured deaf children. In the last song they were signing about giving God's love away. Kimmie was signing that part and doing the motions they did that represented giving God's love away. I wonder who she was giving the love to.

Sweet child, impressive memory.

--Mom

Our Blessing

I was asked a few weeks ago, "How has God blessed you?" One of those Sunday school questions.

My answer was Kimberly. To elaborate I said that all my kids are a blessing, but I always think of Kimmie first because some people would not look at Kimmie as a blessing, and I want people to know that we do think of her as a special blessing God has given us.

I was then asked to give a specific example of how having Kimmie has blessed me. I struggled a bit answering this one because it's hard to put into words. So much of it is a feeling rather than something concrete that you can describe.

I thought about that question for several days and then posed it to the family to see what they would say. We all pretty much came up with the same answers.

It's the happy feeling you get when you hear her laugh.

It's the smile that comes to your face when she smiles.

It's the warm feeling inside when she wraps her arms around you and hugs real tight.

It's the bond our family shares as we all pitch in to take care of her.

It's the shift in perspective, in priorities. Our priorities are different. Our perspective on a lot of things is different than it would have been otherwise. For example: We'll never be empty nesters. That's ok. We have different priorities.

She's a reminder to put others first. It's hard to focus on "ME" when you have Kimmie. You know how it is when you have children, life becomes all about the kids. And if you've ever been around Kimmie, you know that "it's all about Kimmie!" So, just get over it, life's not about you or me, it's all about Kimmie. (That's suppose to be funny, so laugh.) But, more seriously, she is a reminder to look beyond ourselves.

It's the way she innocently points us to God. At 19-years-old, she's an adult, but she has the innocence of a child. And Jesus said we all need to "become like little children" to enter the kindgom of heaven. (Matt. 18:3) There are also those times when she does something or signs something, and I think, "she gets it, she understands all about Jesus." And I'm in awe that she can see what so many people can't.

This is the BIG blessing for us. It's the opportunity we have to be there when she touches the lives of others. It may be a stranger in an elevator. It may be someone we know is hurting. One day it was a car salesman. She reached out and hugged him. He almost cried. When he pulled himself together, he confided to Dad that many years earlier he and his wife had a Downs baby who only lived a few days . . .

Yes. She is a blessing.

--Mom

Disney World - Heading Home

Kimmie was really glad to be heading home. She was tired of the hotel and wanted to be home.

However, we did not make it clear to her that we would not get home that day. It took a day and a half both ways, but she wanted to be home that night. When we stopped at a hotel about 9:00 pm, she was NOT happy. "Home tell none." was what she signed repeatedly. Translated that means "No hotel." She always signs "home tell" for "hotel."

Dad rushed in to get us registered while Bethany and I gathered a few things and Kimmie. When we entered the lobby, someone else was registering ahead of Dad, and he was still waiting. We all stood there and waited--some of us more patiently than others! Kimmie stood there and yelled, screamed, whatever you want to call it.

When Dad finally had a key card, he quickly handed one to me so I could get the little screamer out of the lobby. Bethany and I took her upstairs to the room, while Dad grabbed our suitcase from the van. Unfortunately, when we reached our room the key card did not work. We stood in the hallway with the little screamer until Dad arrived with his key card . . . . . . it didn't work either.

To get the little screamer out of the hallway, Dad rushed her back to the elevator to go down for new cards, while Bethany and I stood with the suitcase in the hallway.

Kimmie did calm down after we were in the room. The next day when we finally arrived home, before she climbed out of the van, she signed, "Home tell none." We assured her that we were home and finished with hotels.

Since our trip, every few days Kimmie talks about "Magic Kingdom." We ask her, "Do you want to go back to Disney World?" She always says, "Yes." But for many weeks when we would follow-up with the question, "Do you want to go back to the hotel?" She would say, "No!" It has been a couple months since our trip, and she has finally started to say yes to going back to the hotel.

She really does like to be at home.

--Mom

Disney World - Shopping

We were a little disappointed with the shopping at Disney World.

When asked what she wanted to do at Disney World, Kimmie's first answer was always hug Aladdin. Her second answer was shopping. She had very specific things she wanted to shop for: Aladdin playing cards and an Aladdin coloring book.

I was a little skeptical that we would find these items. However, I read in my 850-page Disney guide book that there was a store across from The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride that specialized in Aladdin merchandise. We went there, only to find that it mostly carried cultural merchandise. There was one rack of Jasmine "princess" souvenirs. Of course Kimmie has no interest at all in anything with a girl on it.

We looked through the shops everywhere we went (the air conditioning was part of the draw), but we were really disappointed in the depth of selection. Mostly there was Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Disney Princesses, Tinkerbell and Toy Story III merchandise. Everywhere we went we looked for something with Aladdin or the Blue Genie. There were no t-shirts, no pins, no magnets, no pencils, nothing.

We began naming all the movies that Disney has made and thinking about how few of them were represented in the Disney merchandise. We really felt like Disney missed the boat by not having a larger variety of characters represented in their merchandise.

But Kimmie did not go home empty handed. Late in our trip we went to the toy store in Downtown Disney and finally found something with Aladdin. We found a playset of plastic Aladdin figurines. (What I believe to be the only Aladdin souvenir in all of Disney World!) Fortunately it was a different set than the one she already had at home.

And then there was the "Make Your Own Star Wars Sword" display. She added a green sword to her collection of Star Wars swords. (She bought the purple one with birthday money, so I think her collection is complete now, at least until they come out with another color.)

She also added a new Pooh plush to her Pooh collection and a new panda plush to her panda collection.

We may have to add on to the house to hold all her collections!

--Mom

Disney World - Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger

I have been busy and have not finished my stories about our trip to Disney World!

The first characters that we saw, that Kimmie wanted to hug, were Pluto and Goofy. We waited in line and she hugged on them with her Pooh Bear in tow.

One of the workers, cast members, commented on her Pooh Bear and asked if we had seen Pooh yet. I said no, so he pulled out a map and marked exactly where we could go to see Pooh.

We made our way to the character greeting place where Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger were and got in line. The area where they were was pretty good size. The line went along the side of the area with a rope to keep those waiting out of the greeting area, but we could see Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger.

One of the cast members was walking along the rope chatting with those waiting. When he stopped to chat with us, he noticed Kimmie's Pooh Bear and watched her hold her arms up towards Pooh wanting to hug him. The characters were getting ready to leave for a couple minute break. As Pooh was walking past, the cast member called to him to come over to Kimmie. Pooh reached down and hugged Kimmie in her wheel chair. She was thrilled. When Pooh left, Kimmie reached for the cast member and gave him a big hug around the neck. He melted.

The next thing I knew he was unhooking the rope and telling me to take her up by the front of the line so she could be first when the characters returned.

Eeyore had not left yet. Kimmie got herself out of the wheel chair and into Eeyore's arms for some good hugs.

They were all very nice to her. I kept watching the characters to see when they would stop hugging on her so I could pull her away, but they would just keep on hugging.

When they returned, she hugged on them some more.

Every morning when I get her up, she stops at the pictures we hung in her room and points at Pooh and Eeyore and Aladdin. And then her beloved Brown Bear gets lots of hugs as she remembers.

--Mom

Screaming

If you have read very many of my blog posts, you may have the impression that there is a lot of screaming that goes on here with Kimmie.

Well, I suppose you could look at it that way, but there's not as much as it may sound like.

And we're used to it, so we mostly just shrug it off.

And when Kimmie smiles or laughs or giggles, well, you just forget all about that screaming.

--Mom

Disney World - Aladdin

Sometime over the past year, Kimmie made the connection that the Disney animated characters are at Disney World. We have pictures from our trip to Disney World in 2000, of Kimmie hugging Eeyore and Tigger and Baloo, but she didn't seem to grasp where we were and that we could go back.

This year, when she figured out that Disney World is where the cartoon characters live, that's where she decided she wanted to go. From the very first time she said she wanted to go to Disney World, it was specifically for the purpose of hugging Aladdin.

I did some research and learned that Aladdin and Jasmine can usually be found at EPCOT in the Morrocco section of the World Showcase. Sure enough, when we came to Morrocco, there they were along the lake greeting kids.

The characters that we saw during our trip in 2000 were animal characters where the costumes are over their faces. With Aladdin being a "face" character, I was concerned that he wouldn't really look like the animated Aladdin. But, as you can see from the picture, he looked very much like the cartoon, and as far as Kimmie was concerned he was Aladdin.


Jasmine was a little disappointed that Kimmie wouldn't have anything much to do with her, but she quickly realized how special this was to Kimmie. Jasmine enjoyed watching Kimmie right along with the rest of us.

There were some flowering bushes next to where Aladdin and Jasmine were greeting folks. As Kimmie was leaving, Aladdin picked one of these flowers and presented it to her.



Kimmie has framed pictures in her room now, so she will always remember this special day.

Our only disappointment was that the Blue Genie was not available to greet. We inquired at both EPCOT and Magic Kingdom and were told at both places that he was taken off the greeting schedule. But we have recently learned, from some relatives in California, that Disney's California Adventure park has an Aladdin musical production show that is outstanding.

Hmmmm.

--Mom

P.S. Happy Birthday, Kimmie!

Disney World - Swimming

While at Disney World we took Kimmie swimming three times. She loved it!

The first time we took Kimmie swimming, I went in with her. She likes to wear a float vest. We like her to wear it, too. It's nice to have that little bit of extra security. However, we still need to be in the pool with her, and the vest is not foolproof.

Kimmie was wound up pretty good that first day we swam. I was adjusting her float vest, and she had that mischievous glint in her eye. She was laughing, and pushing and wrestling trying to get away from me. Of course, she's wet, I'm wet, and eventually she slipped out of my hands. While still laughing she splashed face down in the water. I immediately grabbed and yanked her out of the water. I caught Dad's eye and he rushed over. Kimmie was coughing and sputtering. I lifted her up to Dad who raised her up to sit on the side of the pool.

I have to compliment Disney on their lifeguards. They are very attentive. One was at our side before we could blink. He was offering to bring over oxygen for Kimmie, then he offered to call EMS. He assured us that there is no charge for an EMS call. Disney pays for it all.

Kimmie was coughing, but she was also breathing well and her color was fine. We assured him that Kimmie was ok, she did not need oxygen nor did she need EMS. He was very persistent telling us that she could be dry-drowning. By this time Kimmie was breathing normally in between coughs and signing "swim more, swim more." The lifeguard offered to call EMS three times. We finally convinced him that she was fine. Kimmie was fine, if she hadn't been she wouldn't have wanted to "swim more."

We did feel safe while we were swimming. The lifeguards were very well trained and patrolled the perimeter of the pool continuously.

The last time we took her swimming was on our last day at Disney World. We had finished at the parks. Kimmie was so tired by then that she just wrapped her arms and legs around me and hung on like a monkey. I told her she was a monkey, but she said, "No." I walked and bounced around in the water with her wrapped around my neck. After a while her eyes were glassy and I thought she was almost asleep. I told her she was a hippopotamus sleeping in the water. She said, "No."

Swimming was a nice break from the heat, but we could have done without the excitement of an almost EMS call.

--Mom

Disney World - Soarin'

We were very careful about the rides that we took Kimmie on. We did not want to take her on anything that might be too jarring for her back. In other words, no roller coasters or simulator rides that jerked around. I read up on every ride before we went to make sure.

Soarin' is a simulator ride at EPCOT. We all read about it and decided that it would be ok for Kimmie. It was described as a perfectly smooth ride. What we didn't take into consideration is that she would absolutely hate it!

She screamed through the entire ride. No amount of hugging and comforting did any good.

The images projected on the screen to give us the feeling of hang-gliding over mountains and oceans were obviously videos, but that coupled with the seats being lifted up so that we were dangling and swaying, and the wind in our faces gave a very real sensation of hang-gliding. And it totally freaked out Kimmie.

The rest of us thought it was a really cool ride, but a painful experience with Kimmie shrieking.

It was a very popular ride with frequent wait times of over 100 minutes. Of course we had Kimmie with us. We didn't have to wait that long, but it was probably the longest wait that we experienced, maybe 20 minutes.

--Mom