Friends

Happy boy!

It was the last Special Needs Playgroup for this school term today. There were quite a few kids there this morning, but Felix seemed to cope with it quite well until right at the end. One of the children there occasionally gets quite vocal and needs to exert some energy, by running around. Felix is still quite sensitive to certain pitches, especially squealing or screaming. He had a couple of his 'silent' meltdowns, where he lay face down on the floor, hiding his face, until the noise stopped. At one point, his bottom lip started to drop, and I thought we might have a few tears but, after a quick cuddle he was full of smiles again and ready to play some more. He has got so much better.

Phillip and Felix

Felix played with playdough today, using some patterned wooden mallets to make prints in the dough. He also played with another tactile substance which is really hard to describe. It looks like tiny coloured beanbag beans, which are sticky, so they all stay stuck together when you roll them in your hands. You can manipulate it in a similar way to playdough, but it feels very different in your hands. I showed Felix how to make 'snakes' with it by rolling it between the palms of my hands. He concentrated hard and copied exactly what I was doing. He seems to prefer it to the playdough, maybe because it doesn't leave a sticky feeling on his fingers. He was quite content to sit and play with it for ages.

Putting his photo on the board

One of the highlights of this morning was being able to get some photos of Felix with his (not so little) buddy, Phillip. Neither Felix, nor Phillip, tend to spend extended periods of time playing closely with other children, so to see them sitting next to each other, exchanging glances and smiles for a good few minutes, was pretty awesome. They even gave each other a high-five!  In their own unique way, they seem to really like each other and make a cute pair sitting together. Phillip is almost twice as tall as Felix and is a year and a half older, but they just seem very content together. It's funny, because Felix gets nervous when tiny, little children are around him, and yet he chooses one of the biggest kids to be friends with!

Isaiah (14) started his work experience week at our local special school, today. I'm so proud of him! He has always had a special bond with Felix, and definitely has a heart for kids with a few extra challenges. He came home, this afternoon, so excited about his day. He really enjoyed it and thought all the kids were fantastic. While I was waiting to pick Isaiah up, a lady came up to me excited to meet Felix. It turns out, she is a regular reader of my blog. It's a small world! It's always really humbling to meet people who enjoy reading what I write. To the lady I met today (you know who you are), thank you for coming and introducing yourself, and thanks for your encouragement. It's people like you who make writing my blog so worthwhile!