Great Day

Today we used an actual daffodil "borrowed" (okay, taken without permission) from a vase in the hallway as a model for us to use. We noted the colours on the daffodil and then collected the materials need to make one from paper.

The size of the green paper chosen was much too wide, so it was twisted to be the stem. The yellow lengths of paper were much too long when compared to the actual flower so when offered the choice of "do we rip or cut" the paper, "rip" was the response.

The grass was added last and a piece of a4 acted as a visual guide so the grass did not end up reaching to the sky.

He was very pleased with the result and when showing it to a classmate said "tah-dah!"




Proud amazement when one of my pupils clearly yelled "GOOD NIGHT!" at the end of the story. There is something to be said about long pauses. Definetly.

Ros Blackburn - I learn so much

This weekend in Birmingham marks the fourth time I have heard Ros speak. If I have the opportunity to hear her again, I will take it. I always learn so much from what she says.

She ran this lecture as a question and answer session and commented on the following:
the need for people with autism to be told... not just told off.
that keeping crisis intervention procedures / physical restraints "secret" from her is a bad idea...if she is already in crisis, putting her in a hold will only escalate it - and four men from emergency response couldn't restrain her.
that reaching a person with autism can be done through special interests. For Ros, this means that when she is bouncing on the trampoline, she might be able to contain her fear of dogs, if one happens to be nearby.

But what really shocked me what the story she related about her various experiences of the Mental Health department. She has been sectioned on a few occasions (1.6 - she called it) and then said that being sectioned under a 2 was entirely different. The length of time was longer, 28 days instead of a week.

It took her mother 21 days to locate where she was being held. The police would not tell her as Ros was over 18 and had the right to privacy. Her mother's arguments of the nonsence of that with respect to Ros did not sway opinion. Instead, her mother gained the necessary information by posing as a social worker and had the help of an autism expert to get Ros released. Mind boggling.