Learning to do some of
the nice things in life
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| On the way home from work in September |
As we see from the skies this last week, autumn
has arrived and that means that school is back in action. A few weeks have passed by and we are
now being asked to give advice in the old schools and get to know teachers and
assistants in the new.
Working
as closely as we do with schools and our children’s classroom assistants has so
many advantages. Whether we get a text message to say that there has been a
problem in the playground – ‘Please discuss it this afternoon!’; a note to say
that the day was great, top marks achieved in mathematics; impromptu meetings
with assistant, parents and conductors, we in the conductive group for school
children welcome it all. We plan our afternoon sessions around the children’s
needs so we very much depend on this information coming in regularly.
Recently
we were able to discuss with the parents of one child the possibility of moving
her domestic science lessons from afternoon school to the conductive afternoon
group, the school assistant liaising with the school. The school agree that we
have better facilities and equipment to suit the child and a most important a qualified
chef in our midst.
As the
children get older school days get longer and therefore we need to find new
solutions and this was such a case.
Domestic
science in the group will benefit us all. Cooking and baking will take a turn
in a different direction for all the children, as we saw when as we all helped
the school girl in question make cheese scones for her school picnic. We learnt
about raising agents, how yeast likes to be warm and cosy for a while before it
gets really hot in the oven and stops working. This was easy for the children
to imagine after the heat of the past summer when they didn’t feel much like
working either.
When a
child has extreme over movements, or when a child has little strength in their
fingers, or when Mum doesn’t like cooking very much, or the kitchen is too
small for a wheelchair to fit in, some children do not get the chance to help
preparing family meals or bake something at home to take on a picnic.
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| Baking for a school trip, cooking for friends, making cheese
biscuits for Grandma and of course helping to clear up afterwards | |
Through
liaising with schools, with parents and assistants we can provide, during the
conductive sessions, the opportunities for children to learn how to do some of
those nice things in life, like helping yeast feel cosy by wrapping its bowl up
in a tea towel and putting it near the radiator or on top of the warming oven.
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| A successful first session making a yeast dough |
Spontaneity, quick
decisions, team work
Today I
received a text from another school assistant and in seconds we had a meeting
arranged for next week. I will be observing and co-assisting in lessons for the
morning and this will be followed by a meeting that will include me, parents,
class assistant and classroom assistant co-ordinator, and both class and head
teachers.
It is
time once again to plan for the future for a child with muscular dystrophy.
Access to classrooms needs to be discussed, as does whether sport lessons are
still possible and whether alternatives can be found. Differentiation of school work and time given for tests will also be on the agenda.
Before
we visit schools we always wait until the term has been going for a few weeks giving
the children time to settle down; time for them to get to know new teachers,
new environments or new assistants and to get into their routine of school
life. We hear about this school life from the children themselves in the
afternoons so we can begin to get a feel of how the children are settling in
before we go to observe for ourselves.
The waiting is over
The school visits have begun, and I for one
really enjoy this work as I can see a conductive lifestyle really coming to shape when so many of the people from a
child’s life come together to plan the next steps in the spiral onwards and
upwards.
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| Two twelve-year-olds enjoy a pre-baking warm-up, one is doing her pre-baking standing too! As in the baking many hands make light work its the same in the conductive grop, much can be achieved while preparing for and during one motivating activity. |
