same same but different…

To borrow a ‘tinglish‘ phrase…

Mac and Shawn were out and about on the weekend just having a “Dad’n Lad day”.  So often is is either just Mac and I or all three of us so it is nice for them to just hang out on their own.

Shawn experienced one of those moments many parents of children with a disability often dread.  You know the one, when another child stops dead in their tracks, stares and points.

He said his initial feeling was a slightly uneasy ‘hmmm, OK then, how’s this going to go down?”

The little boy, now standing straddled over his own push bike, waited for his Dad to catch up to him, turned to him, pointing first to himself, then to Mac and declared…

“Look, same… Ben 10 bike… Ben 10 wheelchair”

That’s it.

Same same!

Ben 10

Voila!

Ben 10 wheels as requested by the ‘bossy’ speller…

MATERIALS PER WHEEL:

• 3 x Ben 10 party hats opened out and pasted around the wheel.
• 1 x large Ben 10 sticker
• 5 x small Ben 10 stickers
• clear contact to cover
• green cardboard as base template

joining words

Mac has been telling us things he wants over the last few days.

On Saturday I asked him if he had an idea for a design on his wheels.  He said YES.

I asked him to spell it for me on the Macaw.

A – B – E  – N – T – E – N

It took me a few seconds to work it out.  A Ben 10 design is what he is after.

Funnily enough – neither Mac or I have ever caught an episode of Ben 10 on TV.  He just knows Ben 10 is cool because that is what the kids talk about.

I checked whether he knows it is just “Ben 10” not “A-Ben 10” he said YES.  I asked was the ‘A’ just the first word of what he was wanting to tell me… YES.

I picked up some paraphernalia today so will try and sort something out tomorrow for him.

Today he brought home a note from school about bringing in some materials to make a container to carry an egg.  I asked him if he had any ideas what he wanted to take in… the answer (of course) YES.

A – B – I – T – O – F – C – A – D – B – O

I asked if I could try and guess the rest.  Mac does this using auditory scanning and the entire alphabet – it isn’t the fastest method, and quite tiring for him.

I gave it a stab…  “A bit of cardboard?”

YES … (phew)

I had to laugh – all that energy for the “A BIT OF” just to start the sentence.   I guess it gives me an indication he should be able to progress to sentence building with the right software options.

I explained how ‘cardboard’ was spelt – he thought that the ‘R’ in card was a bit sneaky.