Benjamin's Website
Benefit4Ben.com
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What's New??
Ben's first day of school was, August 26th, 2009.....he did great. The director told me how the staff all fell in love with him. What a great first day for him! He participated in group, speech, music & earned independent time. They were so impressed with how much he cooperated and how well he uses his device, all with very few negative behaviors. Way to go Ben!
9/2 - Ben's first week of school has been great...every day they are trying new things with him. He's going to the store, participating in group and using his talker all the time. He seems to be very happy at home too! We are so glad that he's in the new place. We can only hope that more "growing" will happen for Ben.
9/11 - Ben went and actually rode a horse today!! YIPPEE! Thank you Brian from the Joshua School for helping him enjoy something new!! We've never been able to get him on a horse before and with Brian's help (and knowledge of these kids), Ben was able to enjoy a 45 minute horse ride. They went to Winter Park today with other kids from the school and after a little coaxing rode a horse for 45 minutes. Way to go Ben!!
This picture was taken at the Mother/Son bowling event (2/09). Ben loves to bowl! Although, as you can see...he doesn't like to wear bowling shoes. We use the ramp, where we enlist a friend or sibling to put the ball onto the ramp. Then Ben pushes the ball down the ramp and watches it roll slowly down the alley. Go Ben!
| 9/15 Not sure how many people would feel this is progress....but I do!! Today, Ben had a dirty diaper...so he brought the box of wipes to me and sat down on the floor. Ok...so is that a hint or what!! Hopefully we can get him going on the potty training!! |
| 9/17 After changing Ben's diaper, he was "humming" around the kitchen...usually when he hums, that means he's looking for something. He didn't have his shorts on because I was going to change them. So, he took my hand and led me in circles around the kitchen...until he found a pair of shorts sitting on a chair. He took them and handed them to me! That's huge...so now he knows that after diaper comes shorts AND he identified them on his own. He is also "trying" to put the shorts on too. Slow and steady...progress is progress!!! |
9/30 - Working hard to get donations for Ben's Benefit on October 24th. We have some big items, like 2-1 week vacations, an Adirondack chair, gift cards etc....still need more. We also need people to show up, eat and have fun!! Don't forget to RSVP! Ben is sick this week. We all have the Swine flu, so I'm sure he does too!! UGH! Thanks to Gram Carol and Gramp for cleaning, cooking, laundry and painting this week!!
10/10 - This is what Ben's augmentative communication device looks like. This one is called a Spring Board Lite. I changed it a little, so that he could communicate that he 1) wants to go to bed (rather than say "all done") 2) can tell me he wants to go for a ride in the car (rather than pull my hand to the back door) & 3) tell me he wants to take a bath (we are working on this one). However, after showing him only 2 times, he can now tell me he wants to go to bed or take a ride in the car. He is so smart!!! I'm so proud of Ben! He's got so much inside his head!
10/10 - This is what Ben's augmentative communication device looks like. This one is called a Spring Board Lite. I changed it a little, so that he could communicate that he 1) wants to go to bed (rather than say "all done") 2) can tell me he wants to go for a ride in the car (rather than pull my hand to the back door) & 3) tell me he wants to take a bath (we are working on this one). However, after showing him only 2 times, he can now tell me he wants to go to bed or take a ride in the car. He is so smart!!! I'm so proud of Ben! He's got so much inside his head!
10/15 - Ben is really learning his device. The music teacher let him play some music from his piano and recorded it on his device. He KNOWS that it's him and loves to play it (Now I need to figure out how to use the MP3 player so we can get his favorite songs from Enrique Eglasias on it). He also used 4 words to ask me for more water "want, more, drink, water" Yes...that's 4 words to ask for ONE thing!! Great job, BEN...you go boy!!
10/24 - Benefit4Ben was an amazing success. More people showed up than expected. They arrived to listen to Dave Kimball and bid on auction items. Everyone had so much fun. We were very humbled by the generousity of our friends and family. Below are pictures of some of those that showed up, along with Dave Kimball on the guitar. Daniel and Gram Camille are bidding on an item...he eventually won the family movie night popcorn bucket.
