Senses – Fri 23rd Oct 2015
By Jeannette | October 23, 2015
I was reminded very quickly of the variances between T and D today, a variance which could have seen a completely different blog being published tonight, if at all.
I trust T to walk to the bus stop on his own in the morning, he only has one road to cross as bounces along (as he walks on his arches), looking before and as he crosses that one road, aware of his surroundings.
D, in contrast, has no road sense and cannot seem to judge speed of vehicles. We have this “rule” that she can skip ahead if she wants (if we go a way with no driveways) but that she waits on the pavement as we get to a service road and does not cross. She’s normally very good at this and it’s important especially when we short cut through the “deep, dark woods” onto a main road that she adheres.
Today, whether it was because T had not had a good day or whether she was tired, she didn’t stop. She didn’t wait. She stepped out into the road. Without looking.
Thank goodness the vehicle that was coming out of the service road wasn’t travelling at speed. Thank goodness he braked. Thank goodness there wasn’t anything turning in, especially the silly quad bike that whizzes noisily up and down. Things could have been very, very different.
It was a heart-in-the-mouth moment and further proof that I’ll be walking her to school/college/wherever for a long time. I can’t not. Not least because of her stranger anxiety but also that, whilst she may be flourishing in some aspects, her road sense is still extremely low.
It wasn’t a happy few moments, or half hour. T was furious she’d gone out in the road, I was running through scenarios in my head and D was calming down.
And then, all change as she tried to teach me how to play a note on the borrowed flute. She patiently showed me which notes the smiley stickers represented and said “I sound just like my teacher, don’t I?”. She did.
Her attempts to get me to play a note was one of her “funniest bits of the week”, surprisingly she had no “worst bits”. I did, but thought them instead!!
I’m looking forward to more “teachings” from D in the coming half term.
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