Bennett tries new things

When Bennett was three the psychologist at his school created a social story for our family called Bennett tries new things. The book showed Bennett holding a hockey stick, trick-or-treating and swimming; in short, things he doesn’t do very frequently. The idea behind the story was that if I read it to him a lot he would become more open to doing things out of his comfort zone.

Eighteen months later I think Bennett has finally taken the book to heart (yes, change in an autistic child sometimes happens at a glacial pace). This weekend he hit three milestones and we are incredibly proud parents.

1. Bennett skied! For real, at Canada Olympic Park. Under the expert tutelage of COP instructor Eric Gerstenbuhler, Bennett got the hang of his French fries on the bunny hill. He still needs a lot of work on his pizza (it’s kind of important for that skill called stopping); fortunately he has another private lesson with Eric next Sunday. I am writing all about Bennett’s first lesson for Snowseekers and the story will be up later this week.

See what I mean about the French fries?

2. Bennett hung ornaments on the tree for the first time! We are so happy our little guy wanted to be part of the tree trimming tradition this year, though it looks like he inherited his sister’s knack for hanging 10 ornaments all on the same branch.

Trimming the tree.

3. Bennett had a conversation with Santa! He has sat on the fat man’s lap in previous years and suffered through the experience. This year, however, he actually answered Santa’s questions.

Santa: “What do you want for Christmas?”

Bennett: “How about a cookie?” (In truth he had spotted another child eating a cookie.) Still, it’s progress. Way to go, B!