Friday 26 March 2010

Angharad's 4th birthday!


What a lovely party! Our thanks to all who helped  in its preparation and execution and, most of all, to everyone who turned-up and made Angharad's afternoon so special.From start to finish we all had a fine time. The food was varied, healthy and enjoyable both, the venue was safe and every inch of it was used. Angharad was the first in the gym and the last off it. There were very few tears from anyone and loads of laughter. The cake was ordered from M&S and we collected it on Friday. We put it away on a chair, in its box with its transparent lid, in the coldest room in the house, the conservatory. Then we locked the conservatory. (As we have to do the front and back doors now else ACE carries her step-box to the doors and opens them.) I heard a loud yell from Nik, who had allowed Angharad off her leash for a milisecond; Angharad had unlocked the door and sat on the cake. Luckily, as the pics attets, it survived but the panda bears and elephants got a little squished for all that!





More parties (ongoing...)

This will be updated regularly over the next few weeks. First a few snaps from Aby's and Amy's party last week, then some from Stephen's do. Then snaps from other parties as they arise. We'll start a separate post for Angharad's parties with friends and family on her actual birthday.



The next two snaps come from Lilia's party (shared with her older brother, Seth) and Annie and Lena's party. The former had a wonderful 'disco' which was nicely aimed at ages 4 through 7 and his details are attched too (I reckon this guy could cover all ages and occasions from tots to adult parties). Angharad had her first-ever face-paint (a butterfly, for the record! The latter was held at Parc indoor/outdoor adventure play facility. Our first time there and it was very impressive.

Easter bonnets

We had Angharad's annual review meeeting with the School Head, SENCO, Nursery teacher, SNHV and S&LT in the last week. We all agreed that the recommendation to the LEA (its a day for acronyms, a.p.o.l.s!) would be that Angharad remain at Marlborough and attend its Infants School from September 2010, maintaining links with her current peers as they enter Reception Class, but attending the Specialised Resource Unit where she will benefit from improved ratio of teacher:pupil ratios and specialised support to reflect her particular learning needs. We hope that the LEA will agree.

Anyways, its Easter Bonnets and Bows time today with a Parade to which parents are invited before the class breaks up for its two-week easter break. I think Angharad now has five birthday parties to attend in this priod, starting with her own which will be held at Ants in Ya Pants on Newport Road (http://www.antsplaycentre.co.uk/) on Sat. 27th March. On her actual birthday family and other close friends will be visiting her at home.

A few snaps are attached, with more to be added later!



Sunday 21 March 2010

From "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo (2000); English translation by Don Bartlett, 2006; www.vintage-books.co.uk; p. 236):

"...Perhaps he should buy a boat so that he could take Dad and Sis out to sea in the summer? The man who had once been so sociable had become a loner since Mum died eight years ago. And though Sis didn't get far under her own steam, you could often forget that she had Down's Syndrome. A bird dived with glee between the containers. The blue tit can reach a speed of twenty-eight kilometres an hour. Ellen had told him that. A mallard can reach sixty-two kilometres an hour. They both managed equally well. No, Sis wasn't a problem; he was more concerned about his father."
I am very optimistic about Angharad's future.

Saturday 6 March 2010

Books, butterflies, tigers, language and Statements

Simon Barnes is a sports and country life columnist for the Times Newspaper. He is also the father of a little boy, Eddie aged 5, who has Down Syndrome. Other writers who share this distinction are Dominic Lawson of the Independent and India Knight of the Sunday Times. The 'back-catalogues' of all three are worth browsing.

I include the link to Barnes's article in the 'Weekend' section of today's Times (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article7049493.ece). It's a beautifully weighted piece and wonderfully written, making me smile from start to finish. The 'hook' for the article was last Thursday being World Book Day. Angharad's school asked that the Nursery class should attend dressed as characters from a favourite book; she was happy to go as the butterfly from Eric Carle's lovely "The Very Hungry Butterfly". That creature was more like a Painted Lady, Peacock or Red Admiral, whereas we dressed Angharad as a White Lady. But that's parental licence for you...! The pictures attached to this post show Angharad the Butterfly. It's a clever little costume since, with the addition of a magic wand Angharad is convinced that she is the little fairy, Princess Holly, from "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom" on TV. She's been waving her wand at Nikki, making Nik spin around, and then signing 'frog'. I.e. she's been turning her mam into a frog and then having a fit of extended giggles. Apparently, she's also turned Nikki into a rabbit. No comment. And, like Eddie, Angharad loves dressing as a Tiger! (See previously posted photo, below, on the right hand said of this blog.)

We have a review meeting with the School staff on 15 March. This will look at her progress to date, take inputs from educational and health professionals, and consider her needs for next year. The LEA will use the findings of this meeting to determine whether Angharad will need a Statement of Special Educational Needs (and the concomitant funding to deliver said needs) and which school she will attend. We will be pushing for her to stay at Marlborough Infant School and be placed in the school's Special Educational Unit, but with access to the mainstream Reception class, where her friends from this year will be, as regularly as feasible.

It seems that, in the class setting, they are unsure whether Angharad can count up to 5 or to what extent she indulges in abstract play. Yet we know, at home, that she does both these things frequently and has done for a while. For example, she plays chess with me without pieces or board (and I have no doubt that this is what she is doing) and just an hour ago she placed 6 square blocks one atop the other and counted 'one' through 'six'. The problem might be that there is so much activity in the classroom that Angharad doesn't focus or simply that the staff don't notice. A cause for such a mis-match between what we parents know and what is evident at school resides in Angharad's language. Her articulation remains unclear. (I hope to post a video of her counting later this weekend. You will see that each word, on its own, might be misperceived but that in the context of the activity it becomes crystal clear. I'll try also to post a brief video of us playing chess.)

Angharad has attended a number of her friends' birthday parties this year (and we shall be throwing a party for her the day before her 4th birthday). She's also been invited to play with her friends in their houses. What is apparent is that the kids get on fine together but that Angharad cannot actually say what she wants e.g. "let's go play dressing-up in the bedroom". Which makes it hard for her to be an equal player in deciding upon and leading shared play. With practice and time, we are sure that Angharad will overcome this deficit. But it does show the centrality of language in early development.