Swimming

Today was disabled swimming day. We arrived 10 minutes earlier than usual to try to beat the school children coming out of the pool. We thought that if we could get there earlier we would get a changing cubicle and get out of the way of their noisy screaming before they got out of the pool.

Unfortunately it didn't work. We needed to be 20 minutes earlier! The children were screaming and running around, and had taken up all of the cubicles.

Luckily one of the other carers of the disabled people stopped the children from going into her cubicle so that we could at least change and get to the pool side and away from the noise. Ram had gone completely white and froze and I had difficulty getting him into the cubicle.

He was a bit better when we got to the poolside, but he still took a little while to calm down and get into the water. Once he was in, he was ok and enjoyed himself.

I think one of the reasons he likes this session is, aside from it being quiet, no one tries to talk to him. But I have decided that just because no one talks to him, it doesn't mean that we can't interact!

There are three ladies that like to make a train and enjoy being towed through the water. Their carer tows them and says things like 'Toot, toot, train coming through.' We had water woggles so I suggested that next time they came by we make a bridge for them. Ram panicked and wouldn't do it, but I did it anyway, and the ladies loved it! I am hoping that if I do this every week then eventually Ram may join in making a bridge too.

Afterwards we went round the usual small shops in town with Ram in his buggy. He was fine in the first few, but when we got to the last one which is the greengrocer, he fell apart. He likes to sit in his buggy by the till, and all the staff know him very well and they will chat with him. At first I couldn't understand what the problem was, but after sitting with him for a few minutes holding his hand he said it was because there were two new members of staff there!

So we waiting for one of the usual ones to come up from the store room, and she sat which him while I collected the veggies. He wouldn't let me go outside though, and had to come with me and hold my hand while I chose vegetables from the outside display.

When we got back into the car I asked him what had happened to make him so anxious. Ram said that it was just that there were two new people there he didn't know. He also got tearful when he said that the usual girl had said that we wouldn't see the new people, but Ram had seen him on the way out. I pointed out that what she probably mean was that the new boy wouldn't be at the till. He was there to load up the new stock and she wouldn't have thought that just passing someone on the way out counted!

It just goes to show how difficult the most simple thing can be for our aspie children!