All Change!

Olly came home from his school trip on Friday - I was so pleased to see him, I almost blubbed. He appeared to have grown 3 ft and unless I was very much mistaken his voice had broken. No, I was mistaken - he had a really bad cold and had lost his voice.

He was really dazed when he got off the bus and kept looking at me. (That's the Autistic thing, they stare until they can absorb their new surroundings).

The poor lad was knackered. He told me later that on the first night there had been a problem with the room temperature and that he could see his breath when he spoke. Just how bloody cold was it? I asked him what he was wearing at the time and he said the bottoms of a pair of pyjama's.

'Did you not put on a T-shirt?
'No'.
'Why not?'
'I wasn't that cold'.

No wonder he's got a nasty cold. Unfortunately Olly cannot tell when he is too hot or when he is too cold.

'Did you put any other type of clothing on?'
'Yes'.
'What did you put on?'
'A hat'
'What in bed?
'Yes'
'Well, that's good, but no T-shirt or jumper?'
'No. You cant put a T-shirt or jumper on in bed, that is for the day'.
'You can when it is cold'.
'No. That is for the day'.

'I really missed you Olly'.
'I didn't miss you.'

How charmingly honest he is.

Olly has had a tough two days trying to settle back into the routine of home and threw a bit of fit yesterday which ended up with him legging out the house and down the road. Luckily I heard the front door crash, so I ran outside and caught up with him. He was very upset and crying. I asked him if I could hug him and he nodded. (I once made the mistake of cuddling him without asking and it ended up in a dreadful tussle).

He said the food was 'crap' and that he didn't want to see another slice of pizza for two years and that he really wanted to get back to school. (He loves to learn - he's like a little sponge).

You do wonder whether you are doing the right thing or not by sending a child with certain needs on a school trip, there are so many things that have to be attended to; portion control (he doesn't know when he is full and will eat until the cows the come home if you let him, medication, social interaction, behavioural problems, loud noises, a new environment etc etc - and that is just one child. When you have 60 or so of them...Anyway his teacher said that she was really impressed with him and there were no altercations of any kind, basically a glowing report, which is always nice to hear.

On a different note it should have been all change for my students. The French one was going home to be replaced by a Swiss one. However the French one lost her ID and they wouldn't let her on the plane. Her teachers and other students all went back home and left her at the airport! I got a very strange call Sunday morning from Gatwick Airport, telling me they had my student there. I couldn't make out if it was the new one or the old one. Anyway, after a lot of confusing chit-chat, It was the French one. She was very distressed - I told her to come straight back here and we will sort things out. She turned up in a flood of tears, poor love. During all this kerfuffle, French crying and Olly storming off, the Swiss one turned up! Luckily French and Swiss made fast friends. I called the police and reported the missing ID, both students went down to the police station to make a report and this morning French has gone to the Embassy and hopefully they can get her home. French's father was furious with the teachers for going without her and I don't blame him, but a least she came back here and her parents knew where she was.

All Change!