Video Shown at Sam's Baptism

Click on the link below to see Sam's Spelling-to-Baptism story in a short video:

https://vimeo.com/373697072/90399eaa2e

Sam's First Crossword Puzzle!

I was trying to think of something playful for spelling practice and the idea of crossword puzzles popped into my head! Sam really loves to show what he knows and what he can do so I was really excited to try this on Wednesday. I found some free crossword puzzles on a variety of topics online, and I let Sam choose which one he wanted to do:

Insects, Book of Mormon, Chemistry, or Earth Science (Volcanoes)

He chose Insects and he aced it! He did the whole thing! These are all Prior Knowledge questions! He even did a few Chemistry and Volcano questions! 

The next day he did an entire Thanksgiving crossword puzzle, more Chemistry, and more Volcanoes! I look forward to someday finding out how he knows all this stuff!

Acrostic Poem for Julia

Sam's sister wrote a blog post about how she's been struggling recently, which I read to Sam this morning. I thought it would be so meaningful to Julia to get a message of encouragement from her little brother, and since he had a lesson this morning I asked his teacher if he could write an acrostic poem. It was absolutely beautiful, and as usual, electrifying to hear more of Sam's unique voice, letter by letter.

J = JUST
U = UNDERSTANDING.
L = LOTS OF MOM IN YOU.
I = INCREDIBLE.
A = ALWAYS LOVING.

Second Missionary Lesson and Non-Coincidence at the Dance

Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018

Tonight Sam was extremely excited and jumpy and it was hard to get him into his seat to spell. The wonderful missionaries, including Elder Wallace who was on exchanges from the Encinitas Ward, didn't miss a beat. They sat in rolling office chairs and rolled their chairs to face Sam no matter where he was in the room. They were so comfortable talking to Sam and didn't act like this was a strange experience for them. It was incredibly cool that Elder Wallace knows the Sessions family. I was able to wrangle Sam into his seat to spell, and when he was spelling he was much calmer and much more accurate than he was last Saturday. It was very poignant for me to be part of my son being taught these principles that are so personal to his unique situation. I had prepared some answers to pre-assigned questions that the missionaries had given us, and he spelled those no problem. Then I was able to think of more questions to keep Sam in a rhythm and allow him to communicate with the missionaries within the parameters of known questions on the 3 boards. It was poignant and electrifying to talk with my 16-year-old son for the first time about these topics. What a tender experience to witness the missionaries teach Sam about the plan of salvation tonight, and how Jesus knows him individually. 

Missionaries: What does the Atonement of Jesus Christ allow us to overcome?

Sam: (answer that I told him to spell) DISABILITY, SORROW, SIN, PAIN, DEATH

Mom: Spell "disability".

Sam: DISABILITY

The following answers were total PK (Prior Knowledge). I didn't tell him how to spell them.

Mom: Sam, what is your disability?
Sam: AUTISM
Mom: What is your other disability that makes controlling movement difficult?
Sam: APRAXIA
Mom: What do you take medicine for?
Sam: EPILEPSY
Mom: What is another name for God?
Sam: HEAVENLY FATHER
Mom: Who is his son?
Sam: JESUS CHRIST
Mom: What's another name for Jesus?
Sam: SAVIOR
Mom: What's another name for the male missionaries?
Sam: ELDERS
Mom: What priesthood do they hold?
Sam: MELCHIZEDEK
Mom: What's the other priesthood?
Sam: AARONIC

Mom: Let's update the missionaries on what happened last week. Who did we meet with last Sunday?

Sam: BISHOP SMITH

Mom: Who is our Stake President who Bishop Smith mentioned?

Sam: PRESIDENT CLARK

Mom: Who else was in the office?

Sam: DAD

The spirit was so strong in this lesson. Even though Sam was very physically active, he spelled with surgical precision when he was sitting at the desk. It was a sacred honor to be part of it.

Then we got ready for the dance in Rancho Penasquitos. I wasn't super excited to drive to an unfamiliar place in the dark but it's such an easy place to take Sam to and he has so much fun at the dances. After we got there a man came up to us in the gymnasium and high-fived Sam and introduced himself. He said he was the dad of a 12-year-old autistic boy who speaks three words. Of course I evangelized to him as much as possible over the loud music about how far Sam had come and how spelling had changed his life. He was very impressed that Sam could tolerate all the sensory input at the dance, and I told him that was a process that had taken a long time. He said that his son needed to wear headphones and I said that Sam used to and there would be a kid coming to the dance in headphones. When Sterling and Spencer arrived I found the guy and introduced them. Turns out they knew each other many years ago when they were both teaching at the Missionary Training Center in Utah! They were able to spend a lot of time talking and Spencer invited him to observe his next spelling session on Monday. 

I told Sam that he had been instrumental in another kid finding his voice, simply because he had come to the dance and invited Sterling. And how the dad was probably tired and not super excited about spending hours chaperoning a dance, and his wife was probably not excited about being left home with the kids, but because he fulfilled his calling, he was blessed to meet someone who could help his son. You can't make this stuff up, folks. No coincidences. 

First Missionary Lesson!

One of the most profound gifts of Sam learning to spell to communicate was to realize he's "in there" and enroll him in Seminary and have him fully participate in church. A year ago my husband and I discussed baptism for Sam and we didn't come to an agreement. I've been feeling recently like we needed to revisit the topic and as I was speed-reading the Book of Mormon to obey Pres. Nelson's challenge to the women of the church, it hit me SO clearly. In 2 Nephi 31 it talks about why Jesus needed to be baptized, and I thought, if perfect Jesus needed to be baptized, why not practically perfect Sam?! And I remembered that because he is older than eight, this would be a convert baptism that would require missionary discussions. I thought about logistics re: having another male present in the home and it popped into my head to have the 16-year-old priests do it! I texted the missionaries and they said that would be OK and they would do all the scheduling (which was a big load off my shoulders)! And I've asked the church young women if they'd like to join in as well and the missionaries will handle that scheduling, too!

Today was the first lesson. I asked Elder Garner and Elder Molen for some questions ahead of time for Sam so I could prepare them to work on the 3 boards. I also had him spell applicable words to keep his momentum and engagement going. He did great!! I had the missionaries and Quinn sit behind us so they could watch him spell his answers. They did such a great job teaching and it was SO COOL to hear three deep male voices cheering Sam on from behind us as he successfully touched each letter! He had his normal challenges with initiation, looking, and hitting the right letter, but that was even more exciting for the guys as Sam got closer and closer and finally hit the letter! The energy was fantastic!!

Another special thing was that Quinn has been helping Sam with his therapies for several years and has always been a good friend to him, but it had been a while since he had been over and he had never seen Sam spell. He LOVED doing this and helping and he asked to change seats so he could have a better view. :)

I was nervous having Sam spell in front of so many new people but he sat still for most of the time, and was more serene than normal. We sat and listened to the missionaries without spelling for longer than we would during a normal letterboard lesson, but that felt right and it was fine. During one of these longer gaps, Sam actually pointed to the boards that were sitting on the desk, as if to say, "Hey, Mom, let's get spelling!"

No, Sam is not fully open and answered prepared questions with my prepared answers, but this was a huge first step. The number one purpose for having Sam spell during these lessons is for him to get a sense of being included and a full participant, and he was!

The missionaries were so wonderful! These 18-19-year-olds taught Sam gently and confidently. They talked to him like a regular person. They taught him while sitting behind him and watching him spell, a very unusual arrangement, and they didn't miss a beat. They powerfully testified of our Savior.

A note about the set-up of the questions. We know that Sam knows all the right answers but just to make it a little more interesting, I had him choose between two prepared answers that started on the same board. The most important thing about today is that WE DID IT!

Spell:

MISSIONARIES
QUINN
ABRAHAM
GETHSEMANE
BLESS
ATONEMENT

Questions (I'm just going to type out the two choices and Sam's answer will be in caps):

Who is God?

IMMORTAL FATHER AND CREATOR or bodyless being

Why do we need prophets?

LEAD THE CHURCH or notarize documents

What was lost during the Great Apostasy?

Jewelry or PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY

After much confusion, what did Joseph Smith decide to do?

Run away or PRAY

What did Angel Moroni instruct Joseph Smith to retrieve and translate?

THE BOOK OF MORMON or Webster's dictionary

How does God answer our prayers?

Voicemail or through SPIRIT, SCRIPTURES, OTHER PEOPLE

Arrrrrrrrrrr!

His teacher taught him the most adorable lesson on pirate language and I couldn't help putting my two cents in. Sam did not disappoint. Here is a snapshot of my favorite part:

Teacher: Sam, what's a synonym for "booty"?
Sam: TREASURE
Mom: What's another synonym for "booty"?
Sam: DERRIERE

Way to go, Sam! I was thinking he would spell "butt" or "bottom". Neither of us was expecting that!

Oct. 23 Birthday Message for Sterling

Sent from my iPhone

Oct. 21 Sunday School

This is the third Sunday in a row that Sam has spelled in his Sunday School class. This time, I passed around a clipboard and had the kids write down phrases relevant to the lesson topic for Sam to spell. He is more confident and assertive spelling in front of his peers than he is at home! I love that he has a way to interact with his friends, and it's only going to get better! #inclusion

Oct 14-20 Standards Night

Sent from my iPhone

Oct. 13 church dance

Sent from my iPhone

Halloween Costume Reveal 2018

A year ago it was so exciting when he was able to choose his Halloween costume (Darth Vader) by narrowing it down from pairs of choices using two large foam letters. It was one of our first glimpses into Sam's personality!

This year he got to be even more clear and specific! He struggled with the 26 when asked directly what costume he wanted but finally he spelled:

I DON'T LIKE MANY COSTUMES.

Hmmmmm. After him not being able to elaborate on this, finally he answered YES when asked if he wanted to wear a costume.

On Thursday, dear Lisa prepared a special lesson on Hogwarts houses and robes and Sam did great! She described the uniforms and colors and mentioned how comfortable and easy they would be as costumes. He was very confident and accurate with known questions on the 3 boards, so at the end of the lesson I asked her to ask him on board 2 if he would like to wear a costume with a robe or no robe and he spelled ROBE.

Then I wrote a lesson all about various costumes that had robes such as angel, Darth Vader, Hogwarts student, gospel choir singer, scriptural prophet, Jedi knight, weird bathrobe guy. I tried on two days to do this lesson with him by myself and he wasn't having it. He was poking all over the map and didn't want to sit down and finally I gave up in frustration.

Meanwhile, Lisa texted me to say that she found a beautiful black velvet cloak at a thrift store for $6 and should she buy it? Yes! And she brought it over and it fit Sam perfectly!

On Tuesday, October 9 when DM and Lisa were here I had DM try with him. He was excited and having trouble looking at the boards but he was able to narrow it down to HOGWARTS STUDENT using my lesson! Then on the 26 when DM asked which house he would like to represent, he spelled GRYFFINDOR! Then I asked her to ask him if there was a particular student he wanted to be and he said yes (not sure if he spelled yes or said something else.) Then on the 26 he spelled HARRY POTTER!

To confirm that this was what he wanted, instead of asking yes or no because DM says this can get kids stuck in a loop, she asked him how being Harry Potter made him feel, he spelled HAPPY.

This was so exciting! Tears were in Lisa's eyes as she got to see him communicate with us and choose a costume that she had helped inspire. Now I believe that he didn't want to spell about costumes with me because he wanted Lisa to be there while he did it. ❤️

Harry Potter, it is!