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!
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