Goldfish. . .

Well, so, we set up an aquarium in Blue's room. During the "cycling" period when all the nitrates, phosphates, lactates, concubites, and Hittites were changing places in the population rankings; 8of 9 goldfish perished. The survivor has become a favorite creature of my better 3/4's and she has refused to allow me to return this hardy individual to the fish store. (They let you bring fish back to trade them in for more fashionable fins.)Apparently, the goldfish were meant to prepare the water for the more socially-beloved fish. Anyway, we have this one left; and he's somewhat of a pig. Eating everything, plants included, and getting bigger by the mouthful.

As an 'aquarist,' one learns that his status as "keeper of the tank" isn't as God-like as it seemed from the start. When everybody dies, and the only thing you can do about it is run back to the fish store and do exactly what they tell you [read 'sell you']; well the truth has come home to roost, baby.

And in similar fashion, the conductor bursts into your life all smiles and with her own unique accent; and we learn again how much we have to learn. Thank goodness! My mental aquarium has lost a few fish to this point. I need someone to toss me a flake!

Then we [Anne & I] meet another 'CP parent' in Seattle the other day ago. She has only recently learned that there is a conductor lurking in her city; so we put them onto each other. Hate to say so, but it's no surprise to hear this parent tell me, "He's learned more from an hour and a half with the conductor than in all of his therapeutic life." How crazy, that a phrase like that is actually old hat. Maybe conductive education is like that last, tough goldfish who stood the test and still stands.

Just a reminder, conductive education is moving again in B.C. Check the link on my blog list for Moving Ahead Conductive Consulting. Zsipp-Zsupp!

There IS conductive education in B.C. - go to Anna's link: open for business!

http://movingaheadconductiveconsulting.blogspot.com/


Anna's here: living in Surrey for the present. She has wheels, a phone, a blog site, and a little brother with CP! She's the best.(And remember, she's German, so it's Anna like the Spanish speaker would say, 'Ana.')

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind; . . .

Okay, so I see my boy really interested in a set of buttons. It's a toy for the really young; letters of the alphabet, push A, it says, "A." Simple. Not good enough for his brain. So, I hear about a keyboard that can be adapted for 2 buttons, 4 buttons, 8, and so on. Intellikeys, it's called. I send a message to the folks who have contacts; equipment, therapists, etc. I say, "Do you have one of these I could give a try? Can you tell me where I can buy one?"

What's the answer? Get me a referral, let's do an assessment; see what might work for him. Get the SLP involved, e t e c e t e r a. . .Find out what sort of communication thing-a-ma-bobs would be best for him. If I brought my car in for an oil change,and they told me to go get a referral from a mechanic to see what I really needed; well, you might imagine how that would transpire.

There is a word for this: bureaucrap.

ten long years, and five little days. . .

After a whirlwind visit to the family in Minnesota, and five days playing with 'able-bodied' nieces, the familiar shock of my "CP child" comes as somewhat of a welcome rest. Everything is slower and odd, as usual, but his smile and his laugh and his soldiering on into every little task is inspiring all over again.

The magic-bullet [blender] finally lost its momentum and has to be replaced, so now we're looking into the really 'spensive machine touted as the premier G-tube feeder: the Vita-mix. I had to wrangle them to let me try it before I buy it. They will do so, and not charge me for the shipping; a good sign from a reasonable business.

Blue has six fish in his tank now, and there's room for plenty more. We were sure to get the blue-est one available; a gourami. Now he has, one fish, two fish, pepper fish, blue fish! Now I have to find a way to relocate the aquarium closer to his bed so he can watch them more closely. The original location across the room and on top of the dresser is great for us 'able-bodied', eye-level mutants; but for him the view is less captivating. Hmm,. . 102 litres of water, about 220 pounds? Going to have to get Troy and Jan and Sergio and Fingers involved here.. .

And of course, in other news, Anne-Cristiane Wittig will be arriving by driving from Manitoba this weekend to begin her new career as the Lower Mainland's only resident conductor! Zsipp-Zsupp indeed! Do the British trained conductors use Hungarian much?