Ben's Un-Birthday

I say it was Ben's Un-Birthday because he is adamant that his birthday is the first Sunday of January each year. Ben also claims he was born in the year 2000. Just another example of Ben doing things his own way. The truth is, he was born on July 2, 2002. Regardless of his strong feelings about his birthday and age, Ben warmed up quite well to chocolate cake, presents and an outdoor maze.

Grandma Joan and Eliza, helping with the maze set-up:

The finished maze:

The enter and exit points, signs courtesy of Hannah J.:

Ben completing one of many maze runs. I believe his personal best was 14 seconds. Sophie set the maze record of 12.3 seconds. Eliza managed a PR of 16 seconds:

Some of the kids, lined up for a timed turn:

Livvy showing off a completed card (the kids were to find each of 5 stickers inside the maze to earn two prizes from the prize basket):

The birthday cake. Our behaviorist assured me that buying "happy birthday" candles was a way of adapting, not accomodating. Since Ben claims he is nine years old, seven candles on the cake would not go over well at all. So this is an example of altering the environment to enable success (or some other fancy behaviorist speak):

The sweaty (from running through the maze) birthday boy opening presents. The scar on his cheek is thanks to a kid at summer school who wanted the toy that Ben had. That's what happens on a campus full of ASD kids:

We are uniquely grateful for our Benjamin. He teaches us to appreciate the small moments, the baby steps, the joy of sharing experiences with each other. He's also taught us that even after the tutelage of countless speech therapists, occupational therapists, play therapists, music therapists, developmental pediatricians, behaviorists, psychologists, etc ... we still have a lot to learn...