A good cause for those of you in Washington

On Friday night a Stanwood High School senior, Tara Smith, is going to be putting on a benefit concert to raise autism awareness, and money for Autism Speaks. Her brother, Noah, is 12 years old and is also affected by autism. Tickets are $5 a person, and there will be a silent auction as well. She has some great acts lined up, and my dad may even be getting up there. :) If you can make it to this performance it will be worth your time, and it's a great cause! There is an article in today's Everett Herald about the performance, and why Tara is doing this. Mom and Dad are going to take me, so I hope that I will see some of you there!
Aaron

Friday night (Jan 9th)
Stanwood High School Performing Arts Center
7:00 pm
$5.00

BE THERE!!!

I don't stay out of trouble for long

I could only be "good" for so long (other than the fact that I've cut off my tracking bracelet three times this week). Someone (Dad) left the bathroom door open, so I sneaked in there and emptied/smeared everywhere: the hair gel, shaving cream, shampoo, soap. Madison was put in charge of me while Mom cleaned up so that I couldn't make another mess while she was cleaning that one. Christmas break is over in 9 days--so Mom and Dad have to hang on just a little bit longer! Maybe going back to my routine will help them out a bit! Have a Happy New Year!!!
Love,
Aaron

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy holiday! I am so blessed to have a wonderful family, friends, and all of you who care about me. I hope you enjoy your day. Eat lots of cookies (I keep getting into the rice crispy treats!!!). Mom will be glad now that the scissors can be really hidden again (I've cut my bracelet off three times over the past couple of days). Have a wonderful day and a Happy New Year.
Love,
Aaron

Good Days

I usually post all of the naughty things that I'm up to, but I have had a really good couple of weeks, so I thought I'd post the good things too! It's these times that Mom holds on to! I have been very verbal the last two weeks, and am making some great eye contact. I love it when my dad tickles me, so I've been going up to him and SPONTANEOUSLY (big word for you autism know-it-alls) asking him "more tickle" in this irresistible voice! Huge step. I've had a lot of fun interacting with my brother and sister, and school has been very pleased with my behavior lately. I've been using these "yes" and "no" cards at school, so my teacher sent a copy home so Mom and Dad can use them with me here. I'm not totally successful but it's a work in progress. My teachers say I'm doing well in school, and they are really challenging and pushing me. I have also started speech therapy again with my very first speech therapist (hi Irna), and Mom is very happy about that! Even though Thanksgiving is behind us, my family and I have a lot to be thankful for. Including all of you who have supported me through the process of finding my dog, to those of you who check up just to see what mischief I'm in! :)
Have a great evening!
Love,
Aaron

Today's Brigadoon Visit

Today Mom, Madison and I went up to Brigadoon to hang out with Bond for about an hour. While we were there, I spent a lot of time petting Bond, sitting with him in his crate, and just hangin' out. I was much more engaged with Bond than I have been, and was initiating contact with him. It was fun for Mom and Denise to watch me interact with him. While we were there, Mom asked Denise about what is going to happen from here. So here is what is in store for us: There are two other dogs in front of me that need to be trained. They will start their formal training as soon as the holidays are over. Once they go to their new homes, Bond will start his formal training. That will include learning to track my scent, going different places, and practice being tethered to me. We're not sure yet how long that is going to take, so there is no set date that Bond will come home with me permanently. As it stands now, after the holidays Bond is going to come over to my house to do a home visit, and hang out on my "turf". We'll just kind of plan sporatic visits up to Brigadoon until his formal training starts, and then the "fun" (work) will begin! Here are some pictures of my visit today, and have a Happy Thanksgiving next week. My family has a lot to be thankful for this year, and one of the things we are thankful for is the support we have from all of you.

With Love,
Aaron

Saying hi to Bond

Playing on the kitty perch

Playing in the dog crate

Bond hanging out in the crate with me

Mom just thought this was an interesting picture...

Bond was getting ready to drag me around--for a second!

Giving Bond some lovin'

Taking a rest

Bond watching over me

Sleeping in the car after a long (1 hour) visit--or because I was up at 5:30....

Why try?

Yesterday was NOT a good day. It seems like we are having a lot of those lately. It was Veteran's Day yesterday so I was out of school. Sometimes I do okay when I'm outside of my routine, and other times I don't. Yesterday was one of those days. Mom went from mess to mess, cleaning up after me. As soon as she started cleaning up the mess I had just made, I went on to a new one. She tried to be proactive and play with me, but there are two other kids, and Dad is sick right now too. Mom's breaking point was a shampoo incident. She recently bought shampoo in the form of a bar because I was dumping liquid shampoo left and right. She figured that a solid bar would put an end to cleaning up shampoo and supporting Suave. :) She was wrong. While she was checking up on Dad to see if he needed anything, I got into the shower, grabbed the bar of shampoo and scraped/smeared it all over the bathroom. When she found me (she had been in there less than 5 minutes) I was standing IN the toilet, the bar of shampoo was in there with me (she is SO glad I didn't flush it), and bar shampoo was everywhere. She was not happy. She had a long way to go before bedtime, so she just hung on until then, and I managed to live through the day. :) Today I went to school, so it should be a better day--maybe.

Mom can't wait for my friend

I'm going to put a disclaimer on this post so there is no confusion. Mom is not expecting Bond to "fix" me or prevent me from all of the destruction I have planned; however, Mom IS looking forward to the possibility of less mess! So here is how the last few days have played out: I have been sick with a cold, so last week was a rough week for all of us. I have been known to throw little temper tantrums every once in a while, but this past week I have thrown some of the worst tantrums my parents, therapist and school has ever seen. It has been really hard on Mom and Dad this week, and they are kind of at a loss of what to do. So in addition to that going on, I have been enjoying getting into a little more trouble. Other than my usual shampoo dumping (which I have moved to the toilet) here is a story. Sunday turned into a particularly not-so-good-day with my mom. The day started out fairly nice. Mom and I went to Target and Costco to do a little shopping. She bought me a piece of pizza and we had lunch together before we did our shopping. Once we were done with Costco, Mom put me in the car and started unloading the groceries from the cart into the trunk. At this point I found a cup of water, went to the back seat, and dumped it all over the seat. I looked her right in the eye as I did it too! (She said "no" before I dumped it, but I didn't listen). She gently and nicely told me to sit down in my seat, so I did--I knew I was in trouble! She finished unloading the groceries, closed the door and took the cart back. She got in the car and started driving off when she smelled something....and decided to look back at me. Well, while she was gone putting the cart away (literally 10 seconds away), I decided to get into the two cans of shaving cream that were in a bag. I thought the inside of the car would look so much nicer with shaving cream all over it--oh and myself. It was a big mess, and at that point I'm pretty lucky I'm alive. She cleaned me up the best she could and drove on home. (Ironically Mom had to buy new shaving cream because I had emptied the last one). So by this time Mom had had it, but the day was young (only 1:30)....fast forward to the evening... Mom looked at the computer I use because it was turned off only to find it sitting in a pool of water. Yes, my computer is now fried. No more computer for me. :( I am very sad, and Mom is trying to have sympathy, but at the same time she is mourning the loss of a computer at my hands. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. She won't let me near her computer (I'm not sure why), so I'm kind of on self-inflicted computer restriction. So if you have a magic trick to resurrect a computer, please please please let her know. :)

Well I'm tired thinking about all the trouble I got into this weekend!!! Mom thought I was having a fairly good evening until I got into the shampoo.....oh well. It's bedtime now, so it should be trouble-free around here for a few hours anyway. Nighty night!

Pictures of trouble and fun

No one knows how I fit in here, but I do...

At least this time I didn't have any shampoo

Me playing on the computer that WAS

This picture was taken by my Auntie Noel. We were supposed to be doing family pictures, and I was done for at this point. So I just kept walking away and then walking back again. This picture has come to symbolize what it's like to live in a family with autism. There's my family, waiting for me to come and join them.

Especially Naughty & Brigadoon Graduation Ceremony

I haven't posted for a while, but I have been keeping mom on her toes (and the soap companies in business) so I thought I'd give you a few quick stories. Over the past week, I have dumped an entire bottle of shampoo (in the toilet), a bottle of liquid hand soap (in the sink), and my mom's NICE bathwash (in the bathtub--it has a cool pump)--oh and have emptied 3 (yes THREE) cans of shaving cream. (Mom wants to add that they really do watch me--I just sneak away too quick and am sooooo quiet). I didn't think it was fair that my mom was the only person subject to my tornado of destruction, so when we went over to a friend's house last night, I snuck away (from the babysitter who was supposed to be watching me) to the bathtub and emptied HER entire bottle of shampoo. Boy was that a mess to clean up (sorry Mandy). Mom is a little tired of liquid being poured everywhere, so she is wondering if anyone knows of shampoo in the form of a bar? She'll have to buy one for all of her friends though! I have also been sneaking scissors and hiding them so I can cut off my tracking device when no one is looking. I think they are going to start charging mom for all of the bands I've cut through! They now have to keep extra ones at school too because I'm cutting them off there too!

On another note, Mom, Grum and Madison attended Brigadoon's Graduation Ceremony on Sunday. Denise held graduation for four service dogs who have gone to live with their person. It was very imspirational to hear their stories, and see how their dog is making a difference in their life. There was one boy there about my age with autism whose dog was graduating. He was harnessed, and kept looking around trying to get away. The dog was tethered to him and just sat there so he couldn't go anywhere. It was a moving time, and at the end Denise told my mom that next year that would be me up there on that stage. This ceremony was also a fundraiser, and I'm hoping that Denise raised a bunch of money for her organization. They have a ton of needs--so if you know anyone who wants to donate to a worthy cause, her organization could definitely use the help.

Mom is working with Denise to set up a time for me to go up there and visit with Bond again, so we'll keep you posted as soon as that visit happens. Have a great day!

"I think you've got a dog"

Those were the words from Denise on Saturday when my mom took me up to Brigadoon. Here's what happened: Mom took me, Cameron and Madison up to Brigadoon on Saturday. Up until this point she hasn't taken Cameron and Madison because she's wanted the focus to be on me (and besides they ask a TON of questions). But this time they had to come. When we got up there Denise had Bond out and Madison went up to him and started to give him treats. This made Mom a little nervous because she didn't want Bond to pay more attention to Cameron and Madison than me. So we went outside, and there the magic happened. Bond ignored Cameron and Madison and followed me around. Mom says you have to see it to believe it--she was amazed at the instinct that Bond had. To top it off, I was responsive to Bond and didn't mind having him with me the entire time. I would pet him, I threw a ball to him a couple of times, and tried to ride him like a horse!! The "ah ha" moment they have been waiting for finally happened. At the end Denise said she was "grinning from ear to ear inside". So, Bond is going to be MINE! So where do we go from here? Starting soon (probably end of October, beginning of November)--Denise will start training Bond for what I need. I'm not sure how long that process is going to take, but in the mean time I'll be heading up there for visits to continue "bonding" with Bond! :) I'll continue to keep you all posted, so keep checking back! If you have any other burning questions, post them and I'll write up a response! Here are some pictures from our very successful visit!!!