One of our therapist’s birthday’s was made extra special: 

Today was a very good day. It was my birthday. Excited to start the day, I packed everything I needed from 8 am to 5 pm and set off. After sitting in traffic for 40 minutes and being constantly cut off, I was frustrated to say the least. I walked in to see my one and only client that day. She had the biggest smile on her face when she saw me. She vocally told me how beautiful I was in a complete sentence and it was very articulate. This immediately made my heart smile. This client is known to be somewhat difficult. I was very hesitant to work with her for 6 hours straight, but I was determined to see her succeed today with no aberrant behavior. She did absolutely fantastic today. I couldn’t believe a target we struggled on for days she patiently did each teaching trial and amazed me with her progress. During her intermediate conversation target she told me her birthday. I responded that today is my birthday! As session came to an end she was so excited to leave the therapy room and go watch TV. As she bolted to the door she turned to me and said, “happy birthday” that was the greatest gift I got that day. I was not spit on, nor hit, and my materials maintained intact. Today was a good day. Many others try to not take their job home with them; I wish that rang true for me. As I got home I saw my older brother who also has autism struggle with being asked to complete a simple task. After running through the whole birthday shenanigans. With all my friends there I asked him if he would come out with all of us. Unprompted and not being reinforced he agreed. Although I’m sure he hated the noise and the fact that he couldn’t bare going into a public bathroom, he saw how proud I was of him. This was such a rare moment that I had asked my friend to capture this moment. As I grabbed him and hugged him, he didn’t resist and hugged me back while smiling! Such a small thing means so very much. Today was a very very good day!