Baseball

Jackson had his second baseball game last night.
He did well; though like usual, in a different way than I expected.

When we first got to the diamond, he went into the dug out and sat down on the top of the bench, like all the other boys were doing. (This is great social referencing). Then when it was time for the national anthem, he lined up with his team down the third base line and took off his hat (with the help of coach Tony) and stood quietly and still while the anthem was played. Later, Anthony and Josh helped him learn about sunflower seeds. It took a few tries, but eventually, he got to where he'd put the seed in his mouth, lick off the salt, then spit it out. After the game, he sat down on the grass with Josh and listened to Coach Doug talk about game highlights.

He didn't go after any bats, but he did have a successful game.
I am once again grateful and awed by the support and encouragement he is given by others. Last night, I needed a victory for Jackson; and we got one.

Getting it Right

Middle School--challenging time for nuerotypical kids right?
Put yourself in my autistic son's shoes.
I'm trying to go there to sort this out.
What is best for him?
What would he want?

Of course, when I ask him, he wants to be with his friends.
He wants to stay where he is familiar.
To the extent that he can answer that is.
Change isn't easy for any of us, but especially not for him.

Words fail me, and if you know me, that's kind of hard to believe...

Take Me out to the Ball Game

Youth League Season is here! This year Jackson is going to be a bat boy for a team of his peers. We feel like he's mature enough to understand the safety issues involved. He's been doing a decent job of warming up with the boys and stays engaged in practice for about 20 minutes, but hadn't really had a chance to "get the bats".

Tonight was the first practice that he had the chance to be the "bat boy". I was really surprised how well he did. He wanted to put the bats into the fence and was picking up the multiple bats laying on the ground. I was really proud of him; and I almost didn't take him to practice tonight. I had a meeting after work and then a late meeting at church, so I was going to skip practice, but Jackson was asking about practice within 15 minutes of getting home. ("You go to baseball?" and "Baseball practice is tonight"). So, I packed them in the van and headed to the park. I'm so glad I did! Of course, the boys on his team are sweet and encouraging to him. I'm hopeful that it'll be a fun season. Saturday morning is team pictures; say a prayer that he does ok...sometimes photos can freak him out.

Beach Boys

We are on spring break in Gulf Shores, AL. Jackson is in his element, swimming up to 5 hours a day! When we were at the beach, the first day, Callahan discovered "boogie boards" and wanted one. So we went out to find him one. While at the store getting one for Cal, Jackson non-chalantly picked one up; of course he wanted to have one too! I'm including a couple of photos of him learing to use the boogie board. I was thrilled an impressed that he used the wrist cord to be sure he didn't lose his board in the waves!