That's me in my lovely new cycling jacket in the gorgeous autumn sunshine |
Tuesday 13 October 2015
Cycling for people who need adapted bikes
I was recently talking to parents of a now adult
child discussing means of enjoying cycling together as a family instead of always
walking or jogging alongside their daughter’s very large, adapted three-wheeler
bike.
Here are some of things that I have since discovered –
This was my first, and perhaps best, find – http://www.pinedamovilidad.com/
It is such a simple and practical idea. No extra
bicycle is needed, although I think this kit comes with the bike. Unfortunately
it is only available in Spain.
Here is another version – http://frankmobility.com/duet.php
That second one is not quite as versatile as the
first but still a nice tandem bike.
Here is something completely different for
people who need just a little bit of help to keep on the right track –
and something else for groups who wish to keep close
together –
There is a lot more available for little people and bigger
people –
And if I had any grandchildren this is the one I
would buy –
Happy cycling!
Monday 5 October 2015
Life is a conductive spiral
Learning to do some of
the nice things in life
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.
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.
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.
Monday 13 July 2015
Customised aids
Sometimes I wonder why some things were not
thought of before –
There are already bright coloured plasters for
broken arms, all sorts of pictures for decorating wheels on wheelchairs and
even splints for feet can be produced in almost any design that children wish
for. Now hearing aids can be customised too, that is they can be customised as
soon as restocking has taken place. I am really not surprised that these lovely
designs have sold out as it is a brilliant idea, I think even my Dad would like
to customise his hearing aids especially if there were trains.
Saturday 20 June 2015
Rain, rain, please go away tomorrow, just long enough for us to celebrate our 20 years of CE, Nürnberg
Our Little Princess, preparing for rain or shine! |
Early this morning I wrote a letter to Andrew Sutton. I wrote
in response to his recent posting about keeping cool in conductive centres...
‘Feeling the heat’ –
Andrew just replied, thanking me for my response and
he wrote that his first response was to publish my letter on his own blog, but then he thought twice and decided to ask
me to publish it on mine. So here I am!
(All you busy CE bloggers will recognise
Andrew’s lovely method of encouraging us to get something posted after a bit of a lull on
our blogs.)
Here is what I wrote –
On 20 Jun
2015 07:43, Susie Mallett wrote –
‘Dear Andrew
As well as
being inventive with our games with ice when the temperature rises we are also
experts on do-it-yourself air conditioning, not forgetting that our building is
purpose-built for people with disability it is relatively easy to keep it cool.
When the
temperature hits the mid-thirties we are used to closing the shutters
over-night, opening the doors and windows early in the morning to let cool air
in and then closing the shutters again to keep out the sun.
It also
helps that our buildings are positioned so that the blazing midday sun cannot
shine directly in the windows during the summer months but the low, cooler
winter sun can brighten our sometimes grey days.
Our
children are also on the ball when it comes to keeping cool
When the
heat gets too much for the children and young adults wearing their hot and sticky,
plastic-splints and thick, orthopedic shoes they often ask us for a bucket of cooling
water to put their feet in.
On very hot
days often a child will phone to ask us to please go out to the garage
where the paddling pool is stored and prepare it for the afternoon sesssion.
Stop the rain-dance, please!
Unfortunately
we have none of these problems with heat at the moment; in fact it is quite the
opposite.
As often
happens around the summer equinox, and also on Mid-Summer Day, the weather
turns cold and rainy. It looks like we will have to put the bad-weather-plan
into action tomorrow when we celebrate our twentieth conductive anniversary – the
weather forecast tells us that it will probably be held in a downpour.
Instead of
all six of our conductive centres coming together for a rare gathering and filling the tree lined
courtyard with activities that represent our work and with discussion amongst ourselves and with
our invited guests, (who are coming from as far away as Budapest), it looks like
we will be painting, drawing, singing and cooking in separate far-flung corners
of the cellar in the buildings belonging to our association's sheltered housing.
I am not the
only one wishing for a sudden change in the weather.
All we wish
for is just enough blue sky to make a sailor a pair of trousers. This would be
much appreciated by all in the conductive groups who have been so busy
all week preparing for this occasion.
From Susie
Mallett CE Nurnberg for 22 years !’
Notes
‘Feeling the heat’ –
(2015)
Des nouvelles, Association CEC du Gard, 18 June –
Mallett,
S. (2015) Beating the summer heat, conductively, Conductor, 14 June –
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