It comes so naturally.
No grown-ups required.
Kids get it, friends get it.
On a sunny morning, waiting for the ANZAC Day march to set off, you need nothing more than your ‘glare weather friends’.
It comes so naturally.
No grown-ups required.
Kids get it, friends get it.
On a sunny morning, waiting for the ANZAC Day march to set off, you need nothing more than your ‘glare weather friends’.
Filed under friends, Inclusion... straight up!
As luck would have it Mac attended a classmates birthday party where the ‘order of the day’ was a water pistol fight.
I knew someday Mac would absolutely NEED a water pistol, truth be told he should have had one years ago… he’s 11 for crying out loud.
It’s not that I haven’t been looking… it’s just finding the perfect combination of battery powered pistol, ease of switch adapting, wheelchair “mountability” and being able to actually buy it when I found it didn’t come together until late last year.
We were traveling overseas and so I did some “retail research” for those few elusive, but sought after, items.
Courtesy of quick trip into Cerritos Walmart, CA – it looked to be perfect option.
Mac gave as good as he got today at the party, he was drenched but delighted. The kids were stoked with his ‘water pistol weapon of choice’, quite a few of these guys were in his class for the “macifications” two years ago so were also interested in how the gun actually worked and was tweaked.
SO WHAT IS IT… AND WHAT DID WE DO WITH IT?
The Fuze Cyclone Water Blaster from FUZE UK.
Designed for mounting on your bike handlebars it was a great choice for a wheelchair because:
Mac’s Pa undertook ‘hacking duties’ once again and got it switch adapted it for him. He used three plugs coming out from the handlebar attachment. Mac used a head activated switch for the fire option, his left and right options were attached to a joystick but most often maneuvered by his “wheelchair pusher”.
It was a little bit tricky to get the button component apart as it had been glued closed, but, once open and adapted it had the option to screw it back together… a nice surprise.
It would be great if the Fuze team considered the option to build in some disability access as standard – they really be world leaders if they went down that path. I generally joke that switch access for toys costs three cents at build stage, three dollars if you do it yourself or three hundred dollars if you get a disability organisation involved, sadly, it’s not really a joke.
Interestingly, Fuze have quite a few products that could intersect with the youth wheelchair market. The fact they don’t cost a fortune is a welcome relief from the usual slamming people with disabilities get around prices of products they need.
One thing to note with this particular product is many kids will find the standard buttons suitable for use without any hacking required.
Check out the FUZE UK range on the above link, there are some cool wheel lights and even a speaker and mount for your phone or media device which just might suit some wheelchairs out there.
It was lunch time and Mac, having just finished eating, was heading out to the playground.
“Go away,” they said, as Miss M and Mac approached the group of boys.
For a moment, Miss M was worried – these were Mac’s fellow Grade 6 boys.
“Buuuttt,” she started, about to say ‘It’s Mac’ when they quickly clarified.
“Oh, not Mac, he’s with us, we just don’t need you.”
“Fine,” she said, feigning indignation, but secretly thrilled at their autonomy and independence. Clearly no adults and certainly no ‘female adults’ are needed in their midst.
I was relieved to hear it. Mac was a little upset on the second day of sixth grade, thinking he wouldn’t have any friends in his class and what that might mean. This year is a big change for him – it’s his first new teacher in three years.
He knew he wasn’t going to get in the same class as one of his best mates. They completely outwit/outplay/outmaneuver the teachers and don’t do any work at all… all the while looking “very busy”. He was ok with that, he said. But for some reason he thought all the other kids were allowed to pick a friend and he wasn’t. I don’t think that was the case, and after actually getting his class placement, he realised he has some great kids in there and he is much happier.
It’s hard to balance the “sticking with who you know” approach in class friendships or embracing the “new kids mean new opportunities”. Every year I have a moment of a panic – worried that he might not maintain those relationships he formed in the prior year… so far, that has been misdirected worry.
It was great to hear Miss M report back that, on the first morning after being placed in their classes, lots of the kids said: “Right, when do we get to learn how to work with Mac.” Learning about Mac’s technology, working with him is still a revered role. If he stuck with the same kids all the time, those new kids would miss out and so would he… you just never know what allies are around the corner.
So the first week of Grade Six has been OK, here’s to a wonderful final year of primary school.
Filed under Access all Areas, friends, Inclusion... straight up!
The cinema was dark… Transformers 4 was proving a fun feast for our senses.
Mac along two of his mates, W & C, had been transfixed from the start.
The other boys shared popcorn while Mac provided the odd giggle, ‘coo’ or ‘glaar’ when the intensity of the moment required it.
We were most the way through the movie when out of the corner of my eye I saw W lean in close to Mac and heard him whisper…
W: “Mac, are you enjoying the movie?”
Mac’s response was silent but offered W a facial expression not unlike this image – a big open mouth, scrunchy face response
W: whispering again… “I take that as a yes.”
And with that he settled back into his seat as they watched the final showdown of the movie.
Verbal responses not necessary.
Authentic. Simple. Beautiful.
You might remember me mentioning that the “Handball Machine” was the catalyst for those “Macifications” (mods to Mac’s wheelchair) his classmates worked on last year?
The kids (Mac included) just decided one day Mac needed a way to play handball. Their idea was to have something mounted at the front of Mac’s jogger to allow him to “play” without getting hurt.
For days, I would turn up at school with them telling me what they had tried, asking me to bring in more items to test, giving me the results on their experimentation.
Some of the failures included:
Until …
Someone came up with the excellent idea of a Crazy Catch (a ball sport reflex/catching trainer). I was dispatched immediately to purchase one for the ongoing experiment (cost … inconsequential 😉 according to the kids)
The feedback following their ‘first trial run’ was that they felt a customised size was necessary. Followed up by a simple “could I make that for them” (hooray for hacksaws). A couple of cheap golf buggy umbrella holders to help hold the Crazy Catch arms in place and the odd piece of velcro was all it took to make their invention a reality.
This year their “hack” has moved onto the football field. The net angle gets reduced a little, Flag Football tags (AusTag here in Oz) are attached on the side of the jogger to allow Mac to be ‘tackled’. Their next planned mod includes a pouch on the front of the net to allow the ball to be passed (with a degree of skill including reverse spin or perfect placement) to allow it to roll into the pouch.
I love watching these ideas come to fruition and then evolve.
Mac loves being in the midst of it all and considers himself “quite good at handball”. Although i’m not sure the speed and chaos of the football field won’t win him over. Time will tell.
It is very ALLsome.
VIDEO AUDIO DESCRIPTION & SCRIPT
So, it's not that cool when you can't play handball with your mates. But with mates like Mac's it's 'way cool'. At our school the kids invent mac-ifications. That is, modifications to Mac's wheelchair so they can all do more things. Like this handball machine. All they needed was a bike jogger, a Crazy Catch, two umbrella holders and some velcro. (video footage of the kids playing with the ball bouncing off the front net). Pretty awesome don't you think? Just goes to show... when ALL means ALL, we make the world more ALLsome.
School’s in for 2014 which means swimming carnivals are on the agenda across the district.
As per last year, I braved the pool to help Mac with his “Macstroke” races, so he could get some points for his sports house. Together we swam the 11-year-boys breaststroke, backstroke & freestyle events…
Two of his mates decided they wanted to swim with him in the last race of the day and negotiated with me to resign my position on Team Mac. With Mac now in 5th grade, I am guessing there’s a very good chance I won’t get a ‘look in’ next year, if today’s success is any indication.
There was also significant desire from Mac’s sports house Captain to include him in the relays, but with a few too many kids making themselves available we opted for the free swim at the end of the day. After all, he’d already competed in every other event possible.
What a wonderful day, what a wonderful sight to watch Mac and his two mates compete as a team.
Who’d want it any other way?