09/01/06 14:04:21
>>211の続きです。お願いします。
Eric and Andrea don't question whether the high emotional and financial costs of keeping Ryan alive were worth it.
They hope the care Ryan receives at Children's National will one day allow him to lead a normal life. Developmentally, Ryan still lags his peer group. He uses sign language to communicate.
But every day he's talking more, adding phrases. "His new word is doo-doo,'" says Eric proudly.
The Coles have started a foundation to help raise awareness and funding for one of Ryan's handicaps, a brain disorder called Dandy-Walker syndrome.
In May, President George W. Bush honored Eric by making him a member of the President's Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities.
This June the Coles hope to take Ryan off of his seizure medication and remove the feeding tube from his stomach. And in the fall, Ryan will enter a special-education preschool.
These days, "the challenge is to keep Ryan from running through the living room and jumping," says Eric. "I'm not so naive as to believe he is doing what his peers are doing.
But I believe he will catch up. He can achieve any milestones and surpass them."