On Saturday, 5 members of the NECC marathon team joined several other charity groups in a 17-mile training run along the Boston marathon route. We began at Mile 9 in Natick and ended at the finish line in front of the Boston Public Library. A few highlights:

• Michelle Richards, our fearless coordinator. Not only did she meet us at the buses to start and carry our bags on the train, but she also waited at the finish in 20-degree weather until everyone crossed the line. And to top it off, she treated us to lunch. Thanks again Michelle!
• Water stops. There is nothing better than not having to carry your own hydration. Thanks to the volunteers at all 4 water stops.
• Safety in numbers. Six bus loads of runners were on the route, so there were plenty of people to keep cars in check the entire way. There were more people out for this training run than at many races I’ve done in the past.
• Our team. Great spirit and attitude as always from Leon, Jen, Mark, and particularly Tom who I chased all the way to Boston.

Running on the route was fantastic. Hopefully we can do it a few more times before April 21.

John started attending NECC in March of last year and a few months later they held their first organized running event. It was a 5k Walk/Run that began and ended at the Pilgrim Church in Southborough Center. All money raised went toward the building of NECC’s Therapeutic Aquatic Center. Afterward a bunch of us went back to Mike’s place and spent some quality time in the bouncy house.

The preschool program John attends at NECC includes monthly meetings with John’s program specialist, his primary teacher, and Mom and Dad. We cover general school behavior and very specific progress against the goals of his IEP (Individual Education Plan). Here are the highlights from the January report:

- John started reverse integration, where a typical child his age visits him in his classroom setting. This means that he’s progressed to acquire the minimum set of skills necessary to make this type of interaction worthwhile. Upon first meeting he became quite enamored with his new friend.

- Potty Training update: he’s just about 100% accident free when peeing, and during last month he initiated the trip to the bathroom instead of folloowing a regularly scheduled visit! Going #2 still is the next big challenge. We decided to try not wearing pull-ups during transition (car rides, hours around dinner time) to see if that will encourage him to produce on the potty.

- He’s been consistently using his PECs sentence strip for requests at home and school. Because John is nonverbal, PECs (Picture Exchange System) is the only way John communicates his needs. The system consists of small 2″ x 2″ laminate pictures velcroed to pages of his PECS book. Now he’s combining the pictures with a “I” and “want” picture to make a sentence strip. It’s real cute on Saturday mornings when we wake up to John standing next to us with a completed “I want Juice” sentence to start his day.

My brother Mike and I are running the 2008 Boston Marathon to raise awareness of autism and funds for his son John’s school - The New England Center for Children. Our goal is to raise $3000 each for the school’s general fund.