Happy Birthday Ilan

Ilan recently celebrated his 17th Birthday and his Milken classmates were instrumental in making sure that he really celebrated it. Two of the boys, Sam and Max, and their family put on a concert at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood to honor Ilan's birthday. Sam and Max and their band played unbelievably great music for over an hour. Many of Ilan's friends and teachers from Sinai Akiba and Milken H.S were very kind to attend, taking time off from their busy schedules. Ilan had a huge smile on his face thru the entire session - he stood up at times and swayed to the music, clapped, and moved his hands up/down/around.

They sang happy birthday to Ilan and gave him a present along with cup cakes and then mushed one of the cupcakes into Ilan's mouth - Ilan did not miss a beat and promptly hugged his brother Jarone and in turn mushed Jarone's cheeks too with all the stuff on his (Ilan's) face, and then triumphantly laughed.

THANK YOU, SAM/MAX/AND FAMILY FOR GIVING ILAN SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!!

Following is a brief update on Ilan:

- he has passed all the required swallow tests and hopefully next week his trake opening will be closed permanently.

- he is busy with many therapies (physical, occupational, and speech) which are all giving Ilan the opportunity to improve in all aspects. He is now walking a little easier with less help, he is beginning to pronounce a few words, he has been doing a few swimming sessions, etc.

- he is far more comfortable in moving his body to reach items a little distance away but within his reach.

-he is going on AIM with friends and doing his best to write to them - we have found that he needs vision therapy to help him read and type; he should be starting vision therapy soon

- he is now eating a lot more items, including rice pudding, corn dogs, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and is more willing to try other things at least once!

In short, Ilan is showing his determination to get better and we need to help him further build his stamina to do things for longer periods.

We wish all Ilan's friends, teachers, realtives and well-wishers a year filled with happiness, health, laughter and prosperity.