25 Apr 2008

All About a Doctor and a Dog

An unexpected but very welcome benefit of my trip to London, is how much closer Duncan has grown to Gordon. He is even more excited than usual to see him return form work. He calls out for him often when he's frustrated or needs help. Yesterday, he came to me and announced, "Daddy is a doctor - helps sick people - makes them feel better."
Yes darling, he does!

Gordon was delighted when I told him later. He said he'd talked to Duncan about what he does when he's away almost every day, trying to explain to him why he has to leave home. Duncan obviously got it.

Yesterday I took the children to the animal rescue centre. One of the staff thought that a Collie dog might be good for us. I'd explained that Duncan, who was at the time making a lot of noise, is autistic, and though he's loud, he's gentle. She asked me, "what kind of autism does he have?" leaving me sort of stumped and stammering something like, " he's just um, very autistic!"
What are you supposed to say to that?!

The children were able to play with this beautiful dog for a while. Duncan kept telling me to take it home; "put it in the boot."

On reading about the breed further, I know we'd not be able to meet the demands of such am energetic, intelligent dog. We need something lazier and dumber! But Duncan enjoyed telling Gordon about our day. I prompted him to explain what we'd done and he readily told where we'd been and what we'd done;

Played with a dog. Throw the ball.

What was the dog's name?
Dog - Chep!

Yes! It's called Shep! What colour was the dog?
White and black - and grey.

I didn't notice any grey, but if Duncan says he was partly grey, then it was so!

5 comments:

kristina said...

Lovely lovely about Duncan and the doctor (Gordon).

The Collie sounds lovely --- will you return to look for another?

Sharon McDaid said...

Thanks Kristina, I think it's lovely too. Duncan is talking so much more recently and really expressing himself and showing how much he understands. It reinforces, to me, the importance of presuming competence.

We're now on the look out for a suitable pooch. Not so sure about the wisdom of this!

Allie said...

Haven't been here for a while and you've been busy, I see.

Your trip to London sounds like it was fun.

Duncan's noddy puppet is lovely.

Anonymous said...

It's uncommon for you to go so long between posts. Everything okay?

Sharon McDaid said...

Thanks Allie, he is really enjoying drawing.

Hi Barbara, I often stop blogging for a week or more so there's nothing to worry about, but thanks for asking!