I Gallop!

Ben’s first horseback riding lesson was today.  Enchanted Acres Equestrian Center and the lovely Miss Kelly and Miss Shelli offer wonderful individually tailored lessons for “exceptional” riders on Sundays.  This is a different center than the one Ben visited with Mark back in November.   That experience was so positive for Ben that we thought regular lessons might be something he would enjoy.  That, and the therapeutic benefit of riding, of course.

Our first visit was last Sunday, where we observed another child during her lesson.  Ben really enjoyed watching the little girl ride the gentle appaloosa, Spot, but continually asked if he could have a turn to ride.  When the opportunity arrived, Ben eagerly put on his helmet, listened to the directions, indicated he knew his left foot would be put in the stirrup first, smiled as he was hoisted up into the saddle…and promptly freaked out.  “MAMA!  I DO NOT LIKE THIS.  STOP!  I WANT TO GET OFF!  GET ME OFF OF THIS HORSE!  AHHHH!  I DON’T LIKE SPOT!”

We guided Ben to dismount and he ceased yelling, but made sure we all knew that he did NOT like it when Spot moved.  Spot, to his credit, continued standing in the same place he had been during Ben’s stationary “ride”, munching the new grass beneath him, unaffected by Ben’s panic.

Along with the ASD, Ben has sensory integration difficulties.  He can be hyper-sensitive to certain sensations, especially those that affect his balance and motor coordination.  Maintaining his balance on an unpredictable, albeit  stationary,  grass munching horse was too much for Ben’s vestibular system.  It was obvious we were going to have to begin this endeavor at a much slower pace.

Or so I thought.

Ben’s first lesson consisted of initial grooming tasks, then using the lead rope to guide Spot into the arena.  There, Miss Kelly and Ben used finger paints to paint right on Spot.  This was a neat tactile exercise that encouraged familiarity and comfort with the horse, while using all kinds of language, too.  Next, Ben offered different foods for Spot to taste,  including a can of Dr. Pepper which the horse snarfed and asked for more.  (evil high fructose corn syrup!) Here Ben talked directly to Spot telling him “C’mon Spot, here’s your sweet feed.   Do you like it?  Eat some more.”  So cute.

Lastly, Kelly and Shelli introduced us to the iGallop.  It’s an electronic horse riding simulator that really does help you feel like you are in the saddle.  There are 3 speeds on the iGallop, of which I anticipated Ben to vehemently protest.  He was not eager to climb up, even after watching both Will and I take a happy turn.  After encouragement, Ben agreed to get on with Mark and seemed to trepeditiously enjoy it.  Once he realized that he could start, stop, or speed up the iGallop on his own, Ben gradually lost all inhibitions.  We were actually a bit worried at the end that we’d have a hard time getting him off of it.

Hopefully we can transfer this success to riding the real thing.  We can’t wait for next Sunday!

Story Share

My Friend T.J.

We saw T.J. and he came over.  And he was on the swing.  T.J. ran in the house.  He is my friend.  T.J.’s racecar has a broken wheel.  We played soccer.

The End.

by Ben

**notice the actual figures in Ben’s drawing.  This is a FIRST!

The Bunny

We saw a bunny next to our house.  Mama put a blanket in a basket.  We still have it.  And he runs away.  And he run away to the pond to find his mama.  His mama is a bunny.

The End.

by Will

**Will drew a rainbow and a bunny figure after watching his brother make his figure-filled illustration.

Casey

Casey is our new dog.  She is happy.  She’s not sad anymore.  She makes a smile and licks people.  She eats food and she drinks water.  She barks.  Casey has a tail.  She misses her owner.  She sniffs people and the baby, Ella Rose.  And me.  And me, too.  We love her and we hug her.

The End.

a collaborative effort by Ben and Will

illustrated by Ben

More on Casey

We’re over the moon about Casey, the Wonder Dog.  She really is just a fantastic addition to our family.   We always knew we’d have a family dog, but we were waiting for the ‘right time’.  When Mark was serving in Iraq, I was overwhelmingly pregnant with Will, Ben was a toddler not walking or even close, and we had just moved from our big yard house to a teeny yard house–that time–was *not* the right time.  Thank God for Aunt Patty and Uncle Jim who adopted our first pet, Max.  Here they all are visiting us on their spring break last week: 

Having Max stay with us confirmed how ready we were for another pet.  There’s so much to be gained in the way of learning and enrichment for the kids–taking care of another being, responsibility, respect, loyalty.  Max was a puppy when we adopted him from the shelter.  Training him was a lot of work.  We knew we didn’t have the kind of time needed to train a puppy this time around.  We had agreed to get an older dog, but not too old.  We wanted an active dog that would run and play, but would not have to pee every 10 minutes nor chew things that would make us unhappy.

I had also been doing some research on therapy dogs for children with autism.  It’s probably not much of a surprise to dog lovers, but early “research” is showing that there are more than physical needs fulfilled through interaction with a trained therapy pet.   This study is looking specifically at development of social interaction with the help of animals.

Solomon hypothesizes that interactions with well-trained therapy dogs—which are simple, predictable and very rewarding social partners—help autistic children practice social interaction and fill gaps in social behaviors that didn’t develop earlier in childhood. In the future, she hopes to study the results of adding animal therapy to existing clinical programs for people with autism.

“Dogs could be like a catalyst in a chemical reaction,” she said.

I liked that the article spoke in terms of remediation, a la RDI.   Going back for a ‘do-over’ is a simple way to think about it.  Could a dog help in our RDI efforts with Ben?  Who couldn’t use a catalyst?

Enter Casey.  The craisglist post proclaimed her “the poster child for the perfect family pet”.  After 3 days with her, we really cannot argue that claim.   We’ve witnessed great affection and “private” moments between both boys and Casey that are worth any cost of having her.  Already.  How cool is that?

Here are some photos of the boys doing some training work with Casey.

“Casey, come!”“Sit.”“Lie down.”

And then there’s Will’s technique…

“Casey, come and eat this yummy treat.”

“Lie down like me.”“Have another yummy treat.  Good girl.  She likes me!”

Welcome Casey!

We welcomed a new furry family member to our household this week.  Casey is our new dog.  She’s a four year old yellow lab who came to us via craigslist.  Her owner was reluctantly looking for a new home for her.  He is newly married and poor Casey does not get along with the new wife’s toy poodle.  We’re thrilled to have her, though.  She’s an awesome dog so far–well mannered, affectionate, playful, and gentle.  She has responded very well to learning the ‘house rules’ and is loved to bits by the boys.   Ella Rose is taking her time warming up to Casey’s wet nose and generous “kisses”.  She enjoys her mostly from a distance right now.

These photos were taken yesterday.   We seem to have caught a spring cold and all the kids had a fever.  Will was pretty warm when these were taken.

And, yes, that’s her *on* the bed.  With Will being sick and so snuggly with her, I didn’t have the heart to make her get off.  I may regret this decision later.  So be it.  Sick kid trumps dog hair-ed quilt.