My grandson has always seemed to be an observer of me and possessed an awareness of my disability that amazes me for his age.
At 15 months old, and barely verbal, I used my cane for the first time that he had seen it when we went to a swimming pool and I needed it for balance. He asked, "What's dat?" I told him, "It's my cane. I use it to help me walk."
About 6 months later, when he was not quite two years old yet, I had begun to use my cane regularly, whenever I left the house. While visiting him, I parked my cane by the back door so I could easily grab it each time I needed it. After observing that several times, each time we got ready to leave the house, he went to the back door and got my cane and brought it to me. Every time. Every single time that we were together, probably until he was 3. (He lives far away, but we visited for a week or two about 4x a year.) Now, he might realize that, because it is located where I need it, it's not necessary for him to bring it to me to walk through the house to get to the back door.
This summer, at the age of 5, he asked me, "Mimi, why do you use a cane and a wheelchair?" (I use a power chair when I need to walk long distances.) Not having time to think ahead about my answer, I said simply, "Because it's hard for me to walk." But, I felt like that was an incomplete answer, so I thought more about it, and called him back over a few minutes later, telling him that I had an answer that might make it easier to understand.
"When you walk or run, your brain tells your legs what to do. My brain doesn't work right. My brain doesn't always tell my legs how to walk."
I've loved watching his observations of me, his awareness of my disability, his empathy and helpfulness and his desire to understand and to learn more.
At 15 months old, and barely verbal, I used my cane for the first time that he had seen it when we went to a swimming pool and I needed it for balance. He asked, "What's dat?" I told him, "It's my cane. I use it to help me walk."
About 6 months later, when he was not quite two years old yet, I had begun to use my cane regularly, whenever I left the house. While visiting him, I parked my cane by the back door so I could easily grab it each time I needed it. After observing that several times, each time we got ready to leave the house, he went to the back door and got my cane and brought it to me. Every time. Every single time that we were together, probably until he was 3. (He lives far away, but we visited for a week or two about 4x a year.) Now, he might realize that, because it is located where I need it, it's not necessary for him to bring it to me to walk through the house to get to the back door.
This summer, at the age of 5, he asked me, "Mimi, why do you use a cane and a wheelchair?" (I use a power chair when I need to walk long distances.) Not having time to think ahead about my answer, I said simply, "Because it's hard for me to walk." But, I felt like that was an incomplete answer, so I thought more about it, and called him back over a few minutes later, telling him that I had an answer that might make it easier to understand.
"When you walk or run, your brain tells your legs what to do. My brain doesn't work right. My brain doesn't always tell my legs how to walk."
I've loved watching his observations of me, his awareness of my disability, his empathy and helpfulness and his desire to understand and to learn more.
Just a really hard subject!
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