Categories: the-joys-of-parenthood
Tags: parenthood, walking, women
Date: 21 November 2008 19:55:58
On my way to the therapist this morning, I was really early (like, about 40 mins) so instead of sitting in a hospital waiting room all that time, I got off the bus a couple of stops early and walked through a park I have only ever seen before from a bus. It was a bright blue-skyed day and quite warm in the morning sun so I sat on a bench and contemplated for a bit. Meanwhile a young autistic man came past with his carer - I could tell he was autistic by the way he kept clapping his hands and picking up tiny things from the path and holding them really close to his eyes or nose to see or smell them. I thought about how very lucky I am that Genius Brat only has Asperger's, and is doing so well - in fact is generally a delightful young man when he isn't yelling at us (well, he is 14...).
Later, after an OK therapy session, I bussed back homewards and met for lunch with a group of mums my Pakistani friend has got together, all of whose kids are at special school. At first I felt quite out of the group but today there were only four of us and it was easier to talk. Finding that both the other mums (along with my friend) have kids 'on the spectrum', we discovered quite a lot of common ground when talking about the difficulties of communication, meltdowns, kids belonging to the National Society for the Prevention of Clothing for Children, etc. It was good to be with a group of women who know the score. Though I have to say the food at that particular Indian leaves much to be desired (a 'buffet' with only three dishes, one of which is meat and so no good for me - basically I had rice, dhal and potato curry, not the most nutritious or enjoyable lunch I've ever eaten).