Since Sammy was a little boy, his father, Harold, has given him numerous autism therapies. Sammy is a 14 year old Bomberman boy who has severe to moderate autism, and multiple disabilities. His dad and him have no antennas, but have black, short hair, and Sammy wears black pants and blue shirts. His dad is dressed in a tan shirt, belt, and jeans.
Due to the serious nature of Sammy's disabilities, his strong cravings for sensory input, and his profound motor skill problems, Harold has known how much occupational therapy, physical therapy, and ABA has helped his son. Speech therapy helped somewhat, but Sammy always remained minimally verbal, and is low-verbal, and often acts deaf. He requires supervised care throughout his entire life.
Homemade weighted sensory vests. Homemade, connectable cardboard-and-origami-paper balance beams - the cheapest foam balance beams were over 100 dollars. Finger-painting words and Sammy's name. Countless lunchtime feeding therapy sessions, with Sammy's favorite dinosaur plate, veggie chips, homemade smoothie popsicles, and special foods. Educational word search puzzles, with constant adult guidance, crayons and colorful markers, due to Sammy's short attention span.
Playing with various, screen-free sensory toys - from the dollar store. Sammy having such difficulties dressing himself - particularly with shoelaces and buttons - he'd cry and hit himself. Sammy still needing adult assistance- to finish a basic dinosaur jigsaw puzzle. Using a rocking chair for relaxing vestibular input. Sammy struggling to play ball and put together easy puzzle toys. Sammy requiring adult assistance to create origami and chiyogami. The list is endless.
When Harold's wife gave birth to Sammy, at the local hospital's maternity ward, he dreamed of their boy becoming a strong, healthy Bomberman soldier, with the other famed bombers joining him. But, Sammy is severely autistic with multiple disabilities. At best, if Sammy isn't totally unemployable, he might make men's pine soap, fold washcloths, or make food packaging art on a virtual paint program. Sammy doesn't fit the military's bill - or even a fast food joint's position - and never will.
That doesn't mean Sammy can't make progress. He has.
Sammy, after attending his Monday-to-Friday three-hour special education program (his only public school - he and the other special students cannot handle 8 hours daily), was guided back home by his daddy, Harold. Sammy had to wear a safety harness - to prevent him from wandering. He flapped his hands, cooed, and stared at the sidewalk, all the way home.
"Wee-ooh, WEE-ooh! Wooh!" Sammy cooed, as Daddy walked home with him.
Many people thought Harold treated Sammy like a dog - as if he were "walking" Sammy on a "leash". But, Harold had no choice. It was for Sammy's safety.
When they arrived home, Harold took off Sammy's shark backpack. Sammy was given a bubble bath, with lots of bath crayons and toys, since his clothes became stinky from P.E. Harold carefully shaved Sammy's armpits and applied men's deodorant. Only a natural brand, without any aluminum, plastic, nor other ingredients of concern. It was like a paste.
"Hold still, Sammy," Harold said, rubbing Sammy's armpits with the deodorant, "this will make your armpits squeaky clean. It smells like a Christmas tree," he added.
"Tree!" Sammy said, sniffing his fresh, clean armpits.
"Sammy, I know that therapy time is hard for you," Harold said, "but you're such a brave boy. After dressing up, you have OT, PT, and speech. Your first activity will be an OT activity. You will assemble easy jigsaw puzzles."
"Jigsaw," Sammy said, "puzzle, woo!" He didn't like OT much, as it made him perform tasks against his will - but he couldn't resist a puzzle. However, he requires a lot of help.
"Sammy, pay attention, please," Harold said, redirecting Sammy's hands to a dinosaur puzzle. Sammy kept looking away, looking at the ground. Then, Sammy picked up a blue piece, but had no idea where to apply it.
Harold guided Sammy through the process. "This puzzle piece goes here, Sammy," he said. He kept guiding Sammy with all pieces, until it was finished. "Sammy, it's a lovely dinosaur," Harold announced.
"Dinosaur!" Sammy cooed, flapping his hands.
"Next, you'll do some penmanship exercises," Harold announced. "It will help keep your mind sharp. I got you a blue pencil grip. It's soft, and it gently hugs your hand." He slid the pencil grip on Sammy's right hand, fastening it with velcro.