Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Bubble Run

 
   Caleb Electric Brain is all set!
    He's back to run some more!

This month for July
Caleb will be running in the race called
The "Bubble Run"


 Caleb was interviewed by a Caleb Electric Brain sponsor of what this experience might be like.

Have you run this race before?

No actually I haven't.

What do you know about the race?

 All I know is that eventually, everyone will get mostly covered in bubbles and that it must be fun. 

What do you think your experience of this race will be like? 

Again, I think I'll have a really fun time in this race, and possibly the time of my life!  

Let's cross our fingers that you do!

Thank you.


Come watch Caleb run and/or donate
To the "Brain Injury Alliance of Utah"

Monday, June 23, 2014

Coming up: The Run Through the Lavender 5K




        This Saturday, June 28th, Caleb electric brain is running the Run Through the Lavender 5K

                                                         
  
Caleb is a bright happy kid, but he understands the struggles that TBI survivors face everyday. 
In an effort to support TBI survivors like himself, Caleb is raising awareness about TBI in his community and raising donations for the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah


                                     
Be sure to sponsor to Caleb on his run
And help him raise "Five bucks for 5K's"

Please reference "Caleb's 5Ks" in the notes section so that
we can keep track of how much he has helped raise

For every 5K Caleb participates in, he is hoping to raise $5 from 10 or more people for the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah, the only non-profit organization in Utah dedicated exclusively to education and support for the issues of brain injury prevention and recovery. 

Proceeds are used for:



Caleb did it! After the race, everyone got this metal

His time was 43 minutes. And he got 9th place out of the age class of 1 through 14



Here's a closer look of the metal


Sunday, July 21, 2013

Caleb's hobbies

A few things Caleb likes to do.


I made some delicious homemade granola bars today (my own recipe).
Here is  the recipe and a picture of it. (Non-bake!)


Caleb’s Homemade Granola Bars
Recipe

Ingredients:
½ cup dry oats
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup Chocolate Chips (mini ones look good)

Instructions:
Mix all Ingredients until mixed well
Dump mix on hard a surface. ( preferably a cutting board)
Take the mix and form it into a rectangle.
With a butter knife, cut out the pieces you want.

Set the pieces on a dinner plate, and freeze them for an hour.

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Coming Up: Gravity Hill 5K


The Gravity Hill 5K is the first of three 5K races Caleb Electric Brain will be running this season in his campaign to raise public awareness for the survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Come join him on his run this Saturday or help him raise "5 Bucks for 5Ks"!

But, what's this? 
Oh no! Caleb stubbed his toe today! Is he still going to be able to run in the 5K this Saturday and raise awareness and dollars for TBI survivors?


Uh, Totally. 

A little purple toe won't ever get in the way of Caleb Electric Brain's mission!

Caleb is a bright happy kid, but he understands the struggles that TBI survivors face everyday. In an effort to support TBI survivors like himself, Caleb is raising awareness about TBI in his community and raising donations for the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah


Help Caleb raise "5 Bucks for 5Ks"
Donations
Please reference "Caleb's 5Ks" in the notes section so that
we can keep track of how much he has helped raise
For every 5K Caleb participates in, he is hoping to raise $5 from 10 or more people for the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah, the only non-profit organization in Utah dedicated exclusively to education and support for the issues of brain injury prevention and recovery. 

Proceeds are used for:
If you would like to join Caleb and help support TBI survivors in Utah, please donate here. 

~OR~
Come Run with Caleb & Support TBI Survivors!

When: Saturday, July 20th, 2013
Start Time: 8:00 AM
Starting Line: East side of the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, UT

The Accident


When Caleb was 13 months old, he was involved in a serious car accident.


Although he was fastened and buckled into a car seat, he sustained three skull fractures resulting in trauma to his Occipital Lobe, Cerebellum, and right Temporal Lobe. 



For the first few days after the accident doctors were unsure whether Caleb would survive, but the brain is a miraculous organ, capable of incredible recovery. Caleb not only survived his injuries, but is now able to walk, talk, attend public school, and run 5Ks!


Read about Caleb's Deveolopment and Recovery Here:
Caleb's Development & Recovery


Caleb's Development and Recovery

Post by Marcia Johnson

Caleb came to our home, orphaned, at age 1 after being severely injured in a car accident.  He is the youngest son of Keith Johnson, who is my husband’s brother. His mother Nancy and I were good friends. Both of them were killed in the same accident that injured Caleb. Prior to the accident he had taken his first steps and was a charming, engaging, and loving baby.  When he came home from the hospital he was listless and uninterested in his surroundings. He paid most attention when his two older sisters were around. He did not hold his own weight and could not sit or roll or crawl. So, it was an eventful day when a few weeks later, with support under his body, he coordinated his movements in a crawl pattern.

We received home therapy services from Kids on the Move, an early intervention organization. The occupational, physical, and speech therapists that came from Kids on the Move were terrific in their treatment of him, their training of us, and their encouragement. They asked us to set goals. It was simple at first. We had a goal that he could walk and talk. We didn’t comprehend that there would be further clarifications such as walk without falling, talk and be understood, etc.

The focus in his recovery started with stimulating him to respond to the stimulation. A houseful of kids, which we had, was a perfect set up for this. (He had come into  our home of 6 children, ages 17-5, and he had come with his siblings, ages 14-5. So, there were 10 older children who chased around doing their own thing and engaging him in their thing and taking an active interest in his progress.) There were many painful parts of life at that time and focusing on his progress helped to ease some of the pain. They played with him, imitated what the therapists did, talked to him and sang to him and encouraged him to imitate them. The energy of 10 children focused on him and surrounding him was powerful.

Services from Kids on the Move end when a child turns three. That was a heart-rending transition for me. It was very difficult. Under their tutelage I had begun to bond with Caleb in ways that I wouldn’t have known how to do without them. They had been a tremendous source of strength and set a foundation for us to build on.

We transitioned into a public school special needs pre-school with therapy services and a private, local physical, occupational, and speech therapy clinic. By the time he reached kindergarten, he was still falling occasionally, but speaking clearly and distinctly and learning easily. He had some challenges with learning, but his biggest challenge was in processing. He processed what was coming into his brain much quicker than what he was trying to pull out of his brain. Any amount of additional stress to the processing slowed it down further. So, when he thought something and then said it he was fairly fluent; but when he was asked a question, formulating an answer was much more difficult. When the questioner would rephrase the question, it just complicated matters because then he had to compare both questions as well as answer.

The nature of how he learns has created a vocabulary deficit as he has not ‘picked up’ words from his environment as easily as he would have without his injury. That vocabulary deficit and the difficulty learning new meanings from the surrounding context creates a stumbling block to future learning as he gets stuck on unfamiliar words. But, he has patiently asked what words mean and built up his vocabulary as well as the ability to infer meanings.

After kindergarten and 1st grade in the public school system, he went to a very small private school for 2nd and 3rd grade where he had the opportunity for one on one, and one on 4 learning. Partway through 4th grade we transitioned back to the public schools.

Caleb is entering 8th grade this coming school year. We are grateful to wonderful teachers in his schools.

We have observed over time that Caleb learns well aurally. Once he has thoroughly processed something he has learned it for keeps. He learns well to music and has a beautiful singing voice, very true pitch, and quick melodic and rhythmic memory.

He loves to follow written or demonstrated directions to make things. Having a source to go to when he needs clarification benefits him.

Basically, we have seen Caleb be able to eventually develop anything that he has been specifically taught. So, I just keep thinking if something is in his way we have to figure out what the components are and then go about teaching him those pieces so that he can then access the new skill. These same principles seem to apply to physical, cognitive, and emotional skills.

We have been privileged to receive direction for his recovery from Dr. Such-Neibar. at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. His life has also been greatly blessed and impacted through the care of Dr. Donaldson, pediatric endocrinologist. Besides physical, occupational, and speech therapy he has received vision therapy, neuro-feedback therapy, and completed a program called Learning Technics , CEO John Heath. Each modality has added to his recovery and to our understanding of what challenges he is facing.

One by one, the 10 children who were initially involved in his recovery process have launched their own lives. He is soon to be the only one of the eleven children still at home. Each of them continues to play a role in his development as they share their time and natural and developing expertise with him in various ways.

My husband, Lane, has always been involved in the mix of all the kids. Now, the dynamics will be substantially different with just the three of us home and we look forward to learning about this new family stage.

We love Caleb dearly and have loved our journey together.



Sunday, July 7, 2013

4th of July Parade


Caleb kicked off his campaign to spread awareness about TBI by marching in the Murray City 4th of July Parade with the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah. All the participants wore helmets and shouted out "Protect your melon, it's the only one you got!" Caleb sprayed the parade audience with candy and water and encouraged everyone to wear helmets.

Caleb is a bright happy kid, but he understands the struggles that TBI survivors face everyday. In an effort to support TBI survivors like himself, Caleb is raising awareness about TBI in his community and raising donations for the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah.

Look for upcoming posts for Caleb's first donation campaign, "5 Bucks for 5K's"