Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

JB>  I almost fell off my chair.

AH>  Because you saw my message just after your adventures
AH>  with sailing...?

JB>  Because I'm imbalanced. 


          That's okay... all my favourite people are weird.  :-))



AH>  One of the life guards tipped over a kayak with me in it,
AH>  then helped me figure out how to get back in.

JB>  Sounds like a page out of the lesson book to me.


          Yes, it probably is.  It's not quite the same as getting dumped
into the water when one least expects it.  Nora is a bit ahead of me
there....  :-)



AH>  Nora was not the slightest bit reluctant to try canoeing
AH>  again.  She did that a few days after the sailing episode
AH>  ....  :-)

JB>  Ah... Nora's my kind!


          I figured... [chuckle].



JB>  The teacher, I'd have to scold, though. Did she figure
JB>  out quickly an upturned canoe makes a better flotation
JB>  device than a dead hero?


          I don't what happened next.  She's one of those people... trying
not to bore you with psychobabble... whose hearts rule their heads, who
have loads of empathy but don't seem to remember the basic laws of physics
& whatnot when the situation requires that they put such concepts to
use.  While I appreciate her ability to tune in to Nora's needs in many
ways, I often have to spell out practical details.  People generally resort
to their preferred reasoning style in an emergency... so I'm not sure she'd
catch on quickly!  I heard many years ago that a canoe makes an excellent
flotation device & I haven't forgotten it. Whether or not I'd catch on
any more quickly in the same situation I can't say because I've never been
in a canoe.  I knew how to deal with my aunt's aphasia some time after
seeing an article about it in READER'S DIGEST, however.  I may be unusual
in that I notice such things before the need arises....  :-)



AH>  We all got interested in kayaking when Nora tried it.
AH>  For her it was a revelation

JB>  Independence?


          I'm sure that was part of it.  She had found a new mode of transport
*and* she could get around by herself, with the right adaptive equipment.  :-)



JB>  Tricycle, training wheels, bicycle, skateboard...
JB>  Cadillac, puddle jumper, cane, walker, 'Turbo'
JB>  walker (Age issues.), scooter...


          Persactly.  I'm reminded of an incident which occurred when Nora
was about 3 1/2.  She'd just been in hospital, where there are many
wheelchairs... and she was at the developmental stage in which kids point
at various things & name them.  One day when I took Nora to a local
shopping area she pointed at a bicycle, a bus, and a wheelchair.  As a
teacher, I was thrilled.  I recognized that she was categorizing & I'd
had a student in grade six who couldn't do it! The older woman in the
wheelchair was miffed, however... I guess because she'd grown up when it
was considered impolite to look at a wheelchair.  IMHO people who adhere to
such "rules" often miss the point.  If others aren't expected to
waste energy pretending they didn't notice the wheelchair, they have much
more energy available to pay attention to the person who's in it.  This
woman never thought to ask herself why Nora was still using a stroller,
when other kids of the same age walk to the area, so she didn't see what
they had in common.  She may not have wanted to, though... sometimes people
prefer to feel unique.

          To Nora, a wheelchair is another of many ways to get around.  I
like that... and so far none of the occupants has bitten my head off when
I've said something along the lines of "I see you have a Snazzy 850. 
How do you find it on rough ground (or on the bus)?" even if she
wasn't with me at the time.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+