Celebrating Accomplishments – by Shane

28 and 11. That’s a good stat line. And for a boy with autism that’s an incredible stat line. I’m a very proud Dad, so let me tell you about my son, Braden, and what he has done lately.

28 miles on his bike and 11 straight jump shots.

Let’s start with the jump shots. This was a couple weeks ago. Me and Braden were at the basketball courts. He loves to shoot hoops! He’s been exposed to basketball since he was tiny. I used to come home from work, grab Braden, his folding playpen, a basketball, and head to a little park in Vallejo that had a basketball court. When we arrived at the park, I setup his playpen near me and began to shoot hoops. We both had a great time!

I’ve also watched basketball on TV ever since he was young, especially college basketball. So Braden grew up loving basketball.

On this day we were at Enterprise Park in Redding. At first Braden was messing around. He took a shot from 6 feet out but he was paying too much attention to the guys on the hoops beside us. When he missed the shot, I grabbed the rebound and took a shot of my own. Not much time passed before Braden started focusing. From the left of the key he stood about 8 feet out on the elbow. Money. He made it. That wasn’t unusual. Though the mechanics of his shot are a bit unorthodox, he has made baskets before. This time he made 6 shots in a row from the same spot. I kept saying, “Money!” I was hoping the guys around us were beginning to take notice. After 6 straight I made him move to the other side of the key a little further out. Some of the shots were close to 10 feet away. To my surprise he swished another 5 shots in a row. I couldn’t believe it.

Braden made 11 jump shots in a row! In our house we call that money, in a throwback to Michael “Money” Jordan. In my attempt to make Braden feel the gravity of his accomplishment I made a big fuss about his 11 shots.

Basketball requires a lot more skill than just the ability to shoot the ball. I know that. But I’ll take what I can get. And Braden gave me a lot to be proud of that day. How many kids his age can make 11 shots in a row from anywhere? And yet my son just made those shots from 8 to 10 feet out. That’s my boy!

Now let’s talk about cycling. I mentioned in my post in May that my son just learned how to ride a two-wheeler on his own this past March. He still loves it and he’s steadily logging miles on his new bike. Usually he rides 5-10 miles at a time. But on Memorial Day (Monday, May 25, 2015) we decided to test him. It was time to up his miles significantly. Could he do it? Would he complain?

I think you know the answer to those questions. We rode from our home in Anderson all the way down through Cottonwood and just about into Lake California. Sometimes we veered off on side roads to explore. See the map of our route into Cottonwood here, if you’re interested. We returned by a slightly different route. In total we had ridden 28 miles with only breaks to munch on granola bars and fruit leathers, and to sip some H2O.

Braden rode 28 miles on his own… without complaining. And if we add in his 18 miles from the Saturday before and a few more from the Sunday before, Braden rode 50+ miles in a 3-day timespan. What will he do next?

As our little family continues to enjoy cycling together, Braden’s skills are growing. During some of our riding exploits this month we toured Santa Cruz on bike, in traffic. And Braden continues to excel. When on a bike he tends to focus better. He maintains his pace and he isn’t bothered by cars driving right next to him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if 28 and 11 turns into 60 and 25 in the coming weeks.