On The Farm – Weds 8th July 2015
By Jeannette | July 8, 2015
A much better day for D today, thankfully. Her class headed off for a trip to a petting farm which also has a soft play area, something D has been very enthusiastic in telling us about – albeit in her own time and when she’s having a cuddle and very relaxed.
We find this with D (and T), she won’t talk about her day immediately, any attempts at chat are met with a squeak and a “I don’t want to talk about it now”. Maybe because she just wants to get home, all part of the routine that she needs.
Anyway, on to her trip; they saw bunnies, chickens, lambs, cows and pigs (the latter at feeding time so she said it was very noisy!). D’s favourite animals were the bunnies (which isn’t a massive surprise) and I think there may be a bit of pester-power coming into force every time she remembers how much she liked them.
D wasn’t particularly keen on the half hour or so journey to and from, she said she felt “homesick” during that time, she then went on to describe how the school bus would go quickly around corners (she doesn’t like that in the car) so I’m wondering if it was a touch of motion sickness – but feeling “homesick” was quite sweet, if it were that.
D had a very impressive moment on the way to school this morning, we have to walk past her old primary school (she was there for nursery and the first term of year 1 until a place came up in SN school) and she always gets anxious about people being too close to her, whether walking behind or in front or, at times, on the other side of the road.
Today there was a coach parked in the cycle lane with children queuing to get on and their parents watching and waving. D didn’t want to cross the road and walk on the other side (that routine again) so she clutched my arm very tightly and we carried on. At the end of the (long) line was the TA that D had had as support during her brief time in mainstream. They had a cuddle and D was very pleased (and her ex TA amazed) to see that D is now taller than her! We do see her occasionally and she is always so pleased to see D and hear how well she’s doing.
It was very obvious that D found the going past the people element challenging and that cuddle mid-journey certainly helped. It gave D something to take her mind off the rest of the walk past more people and onto school.
Yet another reminder of just how far she’s come from that very overwhelmed and scared little D who could very rarely join in with classroom lessons in mainstream.
It all came crashing down tonight though with the realisation that tomorrow is Thursday and that brings swimming at school, D gets very anxious about “being forced” to swim under water and worries that she’ll drown. I think it’s a case of lack of confidence in the lesson, that she doesn’t want to say that she’d rather not do it, but that’s life isn’t it? Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to and she is learning a life skill, something that could come in useful one day.
I hope everyone’s day has gone well Jx
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