Monday, May 23, 2005

My World....Your nightmare

Got to admit, prior to having a child who is classed as "special needs"..I had no idea there was a whole other world of mums,dads, grandparents, etc out there. Sure, I had gone to school with a autistic girl who it was explained to us by the nuns was "special". One of my friends in high school became a paraplegic in an accident when we were in Yr 11 and did not to return to complete Yr 12 with her group but returned the following year. And , yes, family friends had a daughter, who in those days was labeled "retarded"...And I saw no difference in neither the child with autism or Roxy..Perhaps because I was a child myself then.

But this other world of carers...Well, its like another place...Sure I have been at EIP for over 2 years, met tonnes of people, made lots of friends, but the strength of the network and the range it encompasses is AMAZING.

You go to the supermarket and your son is playing merry hell with everything from the lolly aisle( which we avoid like the plague) to the trolleys and the donut stand. Not just touching but spinning, pushing and "rearranging"...You have one toddler who you are trying to shield (hahaha) from this behavior (monkey see, monkey do), 3 litres of milk (which by now you don't care if you drop it all over the shop floor) and some vegies ( which I could've just tossed in the air and no one would have noticed because of the havoc around them).....SUDDENLY a heavenly voice says....
"I'll take him with me to the seat out front, you settle down and get your shopping"
Now I don't know this lady from a bar of soap and she explains her son is austistic and has language problems so similar to Mr 5 that she thought he was there (he's at school), turns out she visiting friends here and she's from the other side of Melb!!!!Now I am not in the habit of letting my child go off with anyone...But she understood and HAD BEEN THERE and was NOT JUDGING !!
It was one of those moments, you hear about...I instinctively trusted this unknown woman,could not tell you why...Even now as I write this..But I did. Now this is what I'm talking about...That there is another breed of people out there who understand, live it, know it and just are there. I did let this woman take Mr 5 to the seat inside the Safeway store, she chatted with him, told him about her little boy and when I got out to them, Mr 5 tells me about "hers boy same like me"...I almost cried.
We chatted about things in common, therapies, EIP,schools, etc....And after about 20 minutes parted ways...I never asked her name,nor she mine...We were just intrinsically linked by a common factor, she saw a need, offered aide and that was it...Another world.

3 comments:

Guruann said...

Jen, I remember a story my mum tells me, that when I was about 5 I was chucking a wobbly in the supermarket and there were two older woman who made the comment in front of my mum, "you would think that the mother could control that child" to which my mum answered "if you think you can do a better job, go right ahead" They very quickly got out of the shop.

Unless you have a problem child you don't realise how hard a trip to the supermarket is, I am now thankfully able to go supermarket shopping sans kids which makes it an enjoyable experience. However I see many a mother struggling with their kids, I always try to meet them in the aisle and give them a reassuring comment, such as I know what it's like, but it will get better. Most of them are greatful that they have a sympathetic ear and not someone glaring at them.

I am the Queen of EVERYTHNG...OK!! said...

Jen?????Tired were you, Sharon???LOL

Guruann said...

sorry supa, it twas a bit late