Talking to me?

I was just reflecting about a group of young adults whom I interacted with lately. They made my day, made me smile, and rekindled that passion again. I must say that sometimes, I do enjoy trying to listen to them and what they have to say. Most of the time, I just nod my head, whether I understood or not was another issue... hehehe....

Recently I was seated beside a guy who has Down Syndrome and does not have any speech. He is kinda new at work, I was helping to supervise that he does his job well. Anyway, as he was packing straws, doing it rather painfully sloooooooooowwwwwwwww............ suddenly he pointed to his hand indicating that it hurts. Being the usual me, I ignored it.

Him not being happy that I ignored it, he showed his hand to my face, with a face that says it hurts. OK, I get the message that it hurts, so I acknowledge how he felt and ask him to get back to work.

And now. He was clearly not satisfied with my response and seeing that I did not get his point... This is the part where I love most...

And this is what he did.

He took a straw and with the pointy end, poke it on his hand, and made an "Oouch!" face... And with that.... I finally understood what he was trying to tell me.... Sigh~! I love how he actually go all the way to make sure I understood what he was trying to tell.

And with that... I finally acknowledge that I understood what he felt and meant, and said "Oh... Its alright. Just becareful when you handle the straws." And he got back to work.... =)

What I Thank God For

What I thank God for, in the preschool inclusion project that I have been involved in...

For this year, 2011, I thank God for:

1. The 21 children attending the programme, of which 7 of them have special needs.
2. Of the 7 of them who have special needs, there are interesting cases that we are working with for the first time. 2 of which have their own case managers, another 2 of which have never had any intervention, another 2 of which have disabilities that I am new to. Nice~!!
3. The completion of writing the lesson plans, (which got my brain juices almost dried up in 2010).
4. The awesome, dedicated, wonderful teachers in the kindy who really loves the children and give their best in teaching and coming out with interesting, fun, learning materials.
5. The awesome, inspiring, principal who truly is out there to shine the love of Jesus through her care and practical ways to help the children and the families.

I am so loving this project.... ;)