Thursday, May 8, 2008

Carlyle, Cameras, and Clips. . . .call me!

Thomas Carlyle said it best. "Go as far as you can see; when you get there you'll be able to see farther." I'm guessing, but I think Peto himself would slap Carlyle on the back wholeheartedly at this remark. It's probably the closest thing I can find to explain why I try to do conductively educational activities with my son.
Of course, he has cerebral palsy. Of course, I wish we could play hockey together, have conversations, make and eat food together; one could go on and on and plunge deep into that chasm of self-pity, and sympathy, that seems to come free with a disability. When Blue and I are working together to find a way to share the task in some small, normal day to day event, these little Carlyle moments come up all the time.
Because he arrives at these tiny, but noticeable landmarks, I become interested all over again and again at how he's doing what he does; and we seem to start again, again. Undoubtedly, it looks and feels like a lot of work at my less co-operative points, but when Blue is feeling it, and trying, we definitely "see farther." What we see is hard to explain, because all the therapists and teachers in his life haven't gone the same way we have. They don't see farther for him holding the bar as he pushes up onto his feet, because they haven't (in 6 years of schooling) put a bar on his table and asked him to hold it. The people in the parking lot at the side of the highway only smile and nod at your description of the waterfall tumbling from one glacier-fed lake to the next.
It seems that people only see what they look at; so no amount of talking is going to "sell" conductive education in British Columbia. It's the pictures, the video that does it. With this in mind, we're actively collecting video clips to put pictures to the words of the kids, Moms, Dads, and people who practice conductive education in B.C. Some of them register with the Purpose program, some hire conductors privately in their homes, some travel to attend "camps" and some do all three. At any rate, the story needs to be told and to be shown.
If you live in B.C. and conductive education has become a significant learning event for you and yours, let me know. We have an expert fundraiser consulting with us now to raise awareness and funds in B.C. for conductive education. Upon her advice, I am documenting moments and thoughts from BC families. Give me a call, or an email if you want to add your experience to this movement. www.purposesociety.org (click on programs, and then conductive education.)