eSpecially Ben

Five Years 2009 When I started, it was 2009; Ben was six years old, Logan was four and Sean was one. My first post, Love at First Sight , was an "all in" jump. I stayed up well past my bedtime, writing and creating a name for this site. It posted on September 18 at 11:43pm. At that point, I did not have any long-term goals or expectations for the blog. I knew I wanted to write, wanted to share and for as long as I had something to write about, I would keep doing it. That was it. Not much more thought went into it. Good Stuff Five years later, I could not have imagined the outcomes from writing eSpeciallyBen . We have this incredible record of Ben's progress, helping us to see patterns, changes and growth. We made connections across the world with people who care about similar issues. My confidence in my writing increased and I sought out paid writing opportunities. We have become closer with distant relatives who came to know us through eSpeciallyBen . And

When asked to hold onto the monkey bars, Ben chose to hold onto Joey tightly. For the past several years Ben has had therapy everyday after school. This meant he missed out on park time with his brothers. If therapy was cancelled, we rejoiced because Ben could join us. This year, I rethought therapy time and managed to have therapists come later in the day or meet us on the playground. His new occupational therapist, Maggie, has met us at the park on a few occasions. Ben pet a dog, swung on the swings, ate a snack, rode his tricycle, played with bubbles and tried holding onto the monkey bars. He used his NOVA Chat to make choices about what activities he wanted to do. This has been a great way to reenergize therapy, involve other kids and help Ben strengthen his skills. You ask, What is  Parkour ?