eSpecially Ben

Having no editorial board for this blog, I often read my posts to Logan before I put them out there permanently. He will tell me if they are "good" or "bad". Of course he enjoys the ones that are about him the most. Several months a go, I wrote a post about when I accidentally did not lock Ben's walker in place and he fell and hurt his face badly. Logan's response was, "Mom, that is bad. Why would you want to tell anyone about that?" Well here's another bad one. But it is funny too and speaks to Ben's independence, curiosity and abilities. And it serves as a warning to other parents who may underestimate their child's cleverness. Two weeks ago we spent the week in NY with family. We stayed at my Dad's house and slept upstairs. Last year, I wrote about how Ben climbed on top of two bins to get out of his room there. So this year, I reminded my Dad a few days before our visit that we had to come up with something to keep Ben in...

June 2010 June 2010 Hindsight is 20/20: These photos should have been our warning. The day we arrived in NY for the Thanksgiving holiday, we saw my sister's children - Jackson, Ethan and Samantha. Samantha is two years old and loves Ben. We have been fortunate to see the cousins quite a bit this summer so the kids feel comfortable around each other. We also reinforce the relationships with family videos from our times together. Samantha has known how to say Ben's name for a long time and talks about him to my sister quite a bit. Seeing Ben is a big deal to her. My sister does a good job talking to her kids about Ben and helping them understand that he communicates differently than other kids. She explains how Ben loves each one of them, but may express it differently. Ben loves his cousins too. We watch the same videos and look at the same photos they do. Ben's favorite home video is Family #4 which features a mountain trip with the cousins. Ben literally gasps...

You may recall that Ben had an accident a couple of months ago - he pulled a TV and table down on himself. Luckily, he was fine - cannot say the same for the TV though. Since then, we have made changes in the house and researched ideas on how to make areas safer for Ben. Our biggest concerns are the stove top and TV areas. After discussing with the OT and Speech Therapist, they came up with a plan to show Ben that he is not to touch the stove and TV. Ben's speech therapist made the sign above based on a Boardmaker picture. During their co-treatment sessions, they work on helping him to understand that he may not touch the area near the sign. Ideally, as we feel more comfortable with his understanding, we will move to a smaller sign. (Or I get tired of the huge sign hanging in front of my oven - whichever happens first.) The sign works if we are in the room with Ben and able to say, "No touching!" He actually listens and moves away. I do not trust that it works if he...

This past week we found out that we were accepted to receive services from the state through a special program. We have been on the waiting list for many years, and we are so thankful that Ben's name finally came to the top of the list. It comes at a crucial time when we are feeling that his safety may be compromised if he is left alone and unattended for any amount of time. Our stress levels were beginning to stay in the "red zone" more often than not. The relief I feel now is unbelievable - a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. My mom had a taste of what it is like with Ben this past week when she visited. I asked her to watch Ben while he was in the bathtub. She sat not four feet from him, playing a game of Trouble with Ben's younger brother, Logan. Without anyone hearing him, Ben got out of the tub and was next to Grandma before she even realized it. Yes, he is that quick, agile and quiet. At least she knows I am not making up the stories I share with her....

While vacuuming, I heard a noise and chose to ignore it. Then something tugged at me to go investigate the source of the noise. I found Ben pinned underneath the TV and table. I lifted it all up, and pushed him with my foot, out of the way. Sometimes when Ben is wild and we cannot watch him every minute, we strap him into a chair. I always feel terrible doing it. Ben had been strapped in the chair while I was cleaning, and the guilt was eating at me. So I got him out. It was not ten minutes when I heard the bang - and it did not even dawn on me what could have happened - I kept vacuuming for another couple of minutes. Ben likes to kneel at the table in front of the TV to get a very close and personal experience with the movie he is watching. This one being a home movie, he must have wanted to get real close. Ughh! The damage - a busted lip, swollen nose and demolished brand-new 32" flat screen TV, a recent gift from our neighbors. So what have I learned? Safety is going ...