Santino arrived in a sleepy mood having just woken up from his car ride to the program. He initially stretched out on the couch and grabbed my hand towards his for contact, which indicates a measure of comfort and familiarity, but after he was introduced to a dancing and singing musical stuffed animal Santino grew more animated, responsive, and began vocalizing in a happy fashion. Santino was encouraged to replicate the motions of the reindeer and did so, along with the teacher. We placed objects around the reindeer to contain him from falling off the table, but when he did fall off, Santino knew where to place him and how to re-activate the switch by pushing on a paw. He made similar vocalizations, but they did not approximate the words I was attempting to elicit that were familiar to him and relevant to the activity at hand. When another teacher and student joined us for a few minutes, we tried to engage Santino in a game of catch with the reindeer. Santino was able to catch him 2 or three times after a few attempts, and he was afforded a great deal of praise - in the form of high fives and verbal 'hoorahs' when he did so. We next worked on shape identification and discrimination, and Santino repeated the word 'circle' after being shown a hula hoop, following verbal prompting techniques. He was permitted to take the reindeer outdoor to the playground and it accompanied him on some equipment, which he clearly enjoyed very much. Ten minutes before the end of the session, Santino was prompted to turn on the water faucet in the kitchen, which he did, with hand-over-hand assistance. He also passively complied with physical directives to push on the soap (a first), and to dry his hands with towel; the latter two skill sets required physical and verbal prompts for successful attainment. He appears to have become increasingly familiar with expectations, acquiring more practiced skills and abilities with daily exposure. Santino drank from the faucet for three minutes after a few drops of water were placed on his lips during the hand-washing activity. This has proven to be a helpful way to keep him hydrated, and has also been requested by his mother. At the very end of the session, I took out a balloon, which has proven to pique Santino's interest, engagement, ability to sustain attention to task, and maintain eye-contact. I placed it by my eyes and mouth as I encouraged him to replicate the 'M' sound. When he did so, I gave him the balloon. I hope to use this technique as a means by which to elicit and shape vocalizations to better approximate letters and words upon request. I was pleased with Santino's responsiveness, compliance with directives, and his overall engagement today.