Santino was brought in by his mom today and readily took my hand and accompanied me to the classroom to put away his book-bag. After I showed him some of the projects planned for the session, using his communication board, we set out for outdoor activities. Santino enjoyed going up and counting the rungs as he climbed aboard the equipment leading to the slides, and he outstretched his hand when wishing to request assistance. I am attempting to facilitate and shape his verbalizations and speech so that he articulates the word 'hand' 'help', or 'please' when requesting assistance. Santino looked in my bag, which was open on a chair, and removed an 11.2 oz sport squeeze bottle of Evian water. I showed him how to open it, offered him a drink, and Santino drank from the bottle as I held it for him. We did this several times, and I then left the bottle on a table and pointed to it. I closed the cap and Santino untwisted the bottle and drank from it again. After I showed him how to flip open the top, which required a bit of strength, Santino was able to open the cap independently. He also figured out how to twist open the cap and drink from the bottle. Santino received accolades in the form of high fives, hugs, verbal praise and thumbs up by me and other teachers who witnessed him drinking so expertly. He then examined the bottle from different angles and experimented by taking some gulps, leaving the water in his mouth for a few minutes, and then spitting it out. In so doing, he got his shirt and shorts damp, but when we went inside, I changed him into a dry outfit and dried his clothes in the dryer. Santino finished the session listening to music and assembling a puzzle. He also gave me a bottle of Ensure indicating he wished to drink more. It was a very exciting and productive day, with Santino making huge strides in drinking from a bottle independently and engaging effectively with me.