eSpecially Ben

As Ben got on the bus this morning, the bus monitor told me that they had a bit of a problem with Ben. Last week, he took off his chest harness and tried to get out of his chair. Not taken by surprise by Ben's antics, it took me about a minute to think of a possible cause and solution: Ben sits alone at the very back of the bus in his Convaid Chair which is strapped into a special system for wheelchairs. He probably wanted to be in a regular bus seat with his friends. Ben is quite the popular man. His friends call his name as soon as the bus rounds the corner of our street. There are many wheelchair positions on the bus, but Ben's spot has been closest to the ramp which is 20 feet away from the action. I recommended that the bus monitor strap Ben into one of the wheelchair spaces closest to his friends. As I said this, Ben gave me a smile. Ideally Ben would sit in a regular seat with a special 5 point safety harness, but that would mean a bus monitor helping him walk up

We were on the Grin Kids 2011 Disney Trip with this family, and we stay connected through Facebook. This is a great story that has gone viral: Mystery Diner Pays for Meal and Leaves a Note

We had a great summer. Last year, I made the decision to keep Ben out of camp and home with us. We did it, with the help of Kim, who has been with our family since Ben was 4 years old. Each day, we planned some new adventure for the boys. We swam, hiked, picnicked, traveled, visited friends, watched movies and discovered the $1 ice cream sundaes at McDonald's way too late in the summer. That's Logan and Ben is about to wake him up. Logan and Sean liked having Ben around and Ben certainly seemed happier spending his time with us. Ben was engaged in the activities we did together. He observed activities and when he was ready, put himself right in the middle. On days we wanted to stay home to relax, and Ben wanted to go out, Kim gave him a choice of activities. He often chose walking the mall or going to Imaginon , a large children's library. On most of those days, he also visited Dunkin' Donuts, TCBY, McDonald's and other tasty places. If it weren'

Ben - 4th Grade Logan - 3rd Grade Sean - Kindergarten No first day of school jitters here. Dressed and ready to go!

My article in the Charlotte Parents' Exceptional Child Guide is out. Here it is on page 11. It does take a minute to load, so set it up, walk away and by the time you come back, you can scroll down to the page. Exceptional Child Guide This takes you to online version of article.

Someone sent this to me today - an article about teenage boys running races together and so much more: Unexpected Friendship

Ben has been practicing walking in the water  all summer long .  Here is a one-minute clip of him showing off his skills.