We Arrived!

We are finally at our friends house!

I had managed to pack everything yesterday, get up and do my usual email work, then pack some food for Ram, and went up to wake Ram. Just as I did that there was a knock on the door. It was the electrician that is supposed to be working with Dxh on the electrics over the next few days, that is Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! He got the day wrong!

Poor Ram was getting distressed as I dealt with this. But luckily his excitement was greater than his distress - today is the day he gets to see his best friend!

We took Arrow over to the farm where she spends her holidays. She is so used to this now that once we put her bed in the corner of their utility room she settles down and didn't even try to follow us home!

Then we had a leisurely hour to finish packing and have some breakfast. Dxh arrived to drive us to the station, and we got there in plenty of time. I know that one of the things that makes Ram's anxiety level go up is worrying about whether we will be late or not.

We sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes, which was fine with Ram. He had his earplugs in, and his red ear defenders on, all snuggled up in his buggy.

The station was very busy as there had been some festival on. The platform was full of young people with long hair and backpacks! We have assistance booked, but they said that it might be difficult as there was only one of them. I said that as long as he got the ramp up to the train I am sure it woudl be fine! I have big elbows and I knew that I could stop the train leaving until they got all our luggage on board for us!

But we needn't have worried. All these young people were really brilliant! One girl helped us to the right part of the plateform for our coach, then another chap took our luggage on board for us leaving me to wheel Ram up the ramp!

So much for all this idea that young people are all hoodies!

Once we were settled on the train Ram relaxed as much as he usually does. Being in First Class makes all the difference. They really pull out all the stops, and don't bat an eyelide at Ram sitting under the table instead of on his seat! But I do always explain straight away. The stewardess (is that what you call them?) came up to us immediately and asked if I would like a paper, then came back a few minutes later to offer drinks. I asked for coffee for myself and then added in a loud enough voice that Ram could hear, that my son who is autistic and is under the table has brought his own drink!

She smiled and said that she had wondered why it looked like I had three knees! She was wonderful about helping us and understood immediatly that Ram would prefer not to be spoken to. She was still polite, and popped her head down to wish him a good journey and assure him that she would get the kids activity pack for him, but with no expectation that he would respond!

So why is it that Virgin Rail and the staff at the train station can all meet the needs of my son and those like him, then the LAs, the NHS and other govenmental officials can't! Why is it that all we have to say to the private sector is that our children are autistic and they are extremely understanding and helpful, but government officials don't believe us and contstantly want us to prove it, and when we do, they still don't help us out!

There was a little hick-up at York station where we got off. This is where we really need help becuase I can't push the buggy and the luggage at the same time and there are elevators to use. There was a problem in getting us off becuase they didn't know we needed a ramp so the delay in getting the ramp out meant that the man doing assistance needed to go off to do another train before he could take us up to the car park. This distressed Banana a bit, and I don't blame her. These big stations are really very noisy and not a place to hang around!

But we got to the car eventually and the kids were all really pleased to see each other.

When we got to the house we started with a planning meeting so that all the children had a chance to express their views. It can be hard for kids with communication difficulties to express their views in a casual way, so we have found having a formal meeting where they all get a chance to think and talk helps. It was also nice to have a cup of tea and homemade teacakes and scones. Ram doesn't eat much on the train becuase of the stress so he tucked into his lunch.

After that the kids were off and it was time for the adults to catch up.