Benjamin holding his own board
Jumping with the ‘girls’
Well, another month has rolled by since our last blog post. We’ve been keeping busy and most importantly, moving along and making progress. Benjamin finished 7th grade just this week. Yikes, this will be his last year in middle school! It was a great school year for Benjamin. We’re excited for even bigger and better things for 8th grade.
Since our last blog post, Benjamin has moved on to the next step with Mom and Dad. He is now using the laminated board with us (the next progression after the 26 stencil board). This is the board you’ve seen him use in the birthday message to Jeff. Kristen has started working on him holding his own board! This is a big step towards independence. It will take some time but he is determined to get there. He’s also moved along with his teacher and two assistants at school and is on the 26 stencil board with two of them.
At Benjamin’s request and given his insight into his struggles to cope with his emotions, we’ve been slowly increasing one of Benjamin’s medications (combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions). Benjamin has communicated that he is starting to feel less anxious. Today, he really wanted to go to the local trampoline place. We had given up on bringing him as it always ended in big meltdowns which he has been able to tell us is because there are either too many kids or not enough kids (of course, something we cannot control). So Jeff decided he’d bring him today. Before he left, I asked him what we could do to make it be successful, he said ‘Make me take walking breaks every 10 minutes’. So off they went. Lo and behold, it was a big success. Jeff brought the board with him and communicated with him each time they had a break. On one of his breaks he said that there were ‘attractive girls’ there. About half way through, was the only time he showed signs of getting upset and Jeff took him off and asked him what was going on, he said ‘I don’t see any chicks’. He was jumping on the younger kids court so Jeff explained to him that he needed to move to the other court for the older kids. He finished out the time there having a blast jumping by two cute teenage girls (here’s a picture, the girls are blurred out so I think it’s appropriate to post). My, we do have a teenage boy in the house!
benjaminsrpmjourney 
Thanks for the progressive update! Benjamin, Watch out for those chicks! They can be trouble!
Grandpa Smidt
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Ashling paraphrased. He actually said when I asked why he was (very briefly) upset: “I was looking for chicks.” When I asked why that upset him, he said, “I didn’t see any.” I called him an eejit because I had told him to jump on the other section where the older kids were. So he set off for there. I watched him circle around and eventually jump beside the two prettiest girls in the whole place. Before we went home, I asked him which girl he had is eye on, and he indicated the one wearing black.
I have to agree with Grandpa. Don’t get too fixated on girls–not at 13!
Oh, and I told him tonight that calling girls “chicks” was ill advised. Seeing as he takes everything very seriously, I’m guessing he will come up with a more respectful expression next time. 😎
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Ha ha – that was fun to read. Definitely a teenager. Max wouldn’t even tell you that, you would have to read between the lines. Benjamin – maybe you will get to have fun with some nice Irish girls when you come to the beach house. Sally has lots of nice cute friends 😄 X
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Great to see how he is doing. And yes I loved the girl bit. 😄😄 who does he take after his “Dad or Mam” ?? 😀
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I loved the post and the comments!! Sounds like Dad is getting to experience some typical interaction with his teen…. Ha! It’s all very encouraging and inspiring…so glad he is learning to hold the board himself…. That will continue to give him more liberty for expression. Hugs for all…. Keep up the good work! Love, Gramma Smidt
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