Yoshi's Birthday

Has it REALLY been a whole year since I last blogged? Well, apparently so. Wow. I will have to catch you up with another blog. This one is for Yoshi.

Stephen's Yoshi Plush

If you are not familiar with Stephen's stuffed plush toy, Yoshi, and the story behind him, please read the previous blog, written by Preston a YEAR ago. Yoshi has helped Stephen to "find his voice," so to speak. After Stephen got Yoshi, the fascination with Mario Bros. characters exploded. For every penny earned, Stephen was purchasing more Mario plushes and recording little videos to post on his YouTube channel, Super Yoshi Stephen. I think we have almost all of the common characters (and even some I'd never heard of).

Yoshi & Friends

Yoshi and his "friends" have been following Stephen around for about a year now. It's been amazing to watch Stephen grow and come out of his shell more and more with his newly gained confidence that he found with using the plushes to help him communicate. For a while, the plush toys went with us everywhere. They fill up an entire shopping bag. We even have a Yoshi [recycled] shopping bag that we found at a toy store. Yoshi and friends were even with Stephen at school, only one at a time, but hidden in his book bag.

Yoshi's Birthday Party

As time went by, Stephen would give his plushes tasks that would require them to stay behind. Yoshi started looking after Stephen's room or the van everyday, which meant Yoshi didn't go to school with Stephen anymore. Stephen built a plush "office" out of a cardboard box for the plushes to work at night while Stephen was sleeping - all except 3 of them. Stephen found his own unique way of reducing his dependence on the plushes in situations that make him nervous or overwhelmed. Yoshi even ended up staying in the van or waiting room during Stephen's weekly visits to occupational therapy instead of coming in to watch.

Ms. Terry & Stephen, 2011

So, after a year, we have seen Stephen grow and mature so much. His dependence on the plush toys has diminished, but we still see them everyday. Stephen has come so far that he actually graduated from occupational therapy last week! I could not believe it. We have loved O.T. and Ms. Terry. We've had good times and bad. Hard days and easy days. Fun days and serious days. I just can hardly believe we made it to the end! Now, this isn't to say that Stephen won't need O.T. services ever again, but he has met all of his goals and has been doing consistently well enough to go for it. O.T. isn't meant to be forever, although one tends to think that it will never end. Our last day was bittersweet. Stephen shared with Ms. Terry that he was happy and proud, but emotional and getting tears in his eyes at the same time, but that they were happy tears. He said he would miss Ms. Terry and he thanked her for her help. She assured us that she will be there for Stephen should he need to return for more O.T. My hope is that Stephen will continue on this up-swing. We are so proud of him.

To celebrate a year with Yoshi and show appreciation for him, Stephen decided to have a birthday party for Yoshi on July 28th. (Yoshi even went to bed early the night before to rest up for his big day.) We made cookies and sang "Happy Birthday." All the Super Mario Bros. plush toys were there to wish Yoshi a happy birthday and have cookies! Thankfully, they all shared with Yoshi and Stephen. It was an event I don't think I'll ever forget. It was more than a party for a stuffed toy. In my eyes, we were celebrating one year of Stephen's drastic improvements in communication and social awareness. He made a lot of friends at his [new] school last year. As a matter of fact, he did so well that he's been assigned as a "student mentor" for the coming year. Once done with his regular classwork, he will be able to go help with the kindergarten and/or first grade classes on reading and math. As long as he maintains good grades and good conduct (as always!), he will have this position for all of his 5th grade year. I can't believe it will be his last year in elementary school!