MY BEST FRIEND

 Close your eyes and imagine your best friend. Now, imagine your best friend has four legs, a long tongue, and a wagging tail. My friend is like that. His name is Nitro and he helps me with a lot of things.

 Nitro helps me calm down when I am angry. He knows two good ways to help me. the first is to nuzzle me with his nose. Nuzzle is when I put my hands in a circle and then he puts his nose in it. The second way is to tell him "lap". When Nitro does a "lap" he puts his head on my leg or lap and I calm down. Nitro really helps me calm down.

 Nitro cheers me up when I am sad. He helps me cheer up by playing with me. We usually play fetch. He also helps me cheer up by letting me hug him. I hug him when I am sad and crying. Nitro really knows how to cheer me up.

 Nitro is my best friend. He loves me no matter what I do or say. He sleeps with me and this makes me happy. I also talk to him because he is a good listener. Talking to him makes me feel good. I love him!

 I love Nitro because he helps me when I am angry. He cheers me up when I am sad. Nitro is my very best friend.

 Sincerely, DJ Standley

 DJ wrote this speech for 4 H. He won 26 out of 27 points. The evaluator took off one point for not making eye contact! Considering that is a typical autism trait for DJ, we were very proud of him!! DJ's Mom