We've had a couple of meetings at the school recently and have agreed that he'll stay in the nursery for an extra term and will increase his sessions to five mornings per week. Thereafter is unsure. He could stay at the same mainstream school and go into the reception with a one-to-one support, or he could go to a local special school which specialises in children with moderate and severe learning difficulties. We'll just have to see. I am currently trying to find funding for a MAKATON sign language course and hope to do that early next year. It won't make him talk, of course, but allows us and others to communicate more easily. Also, I feel I've got to match what the school are doing since he's at home more than he is there. Additionally, I've finally started to properly use his "communication book". This is just full of pictures from washing and dressing to animals and vehicles. It provides additional visual support and Alastair can point to pictures to say what he wants or use it if you are playing games, for instance. It's not very user-friendly though and I don't carry it round with me and we are always moving from room to room and not taking it with us, but in spite of all the hurdles, it does help slow things down enough for him to concentrate and me to stop multi-tasking for a minute or two! As for Gregor, he will go into reception full-time in January and is ready for it.
I was also lucky to receive an annual National Trust membership. This enables me to get into all the hundreds of NT properties and attractions at a reduced rate, and while the kids are still young enough, it's a good (and cheaper) way of motivating us to see more of the UK than we have up to now. So taking advantage of yet another lovely autumn morning, Gregor and I visited the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon burial site overlooking the river Deben at Woodbridge, just 40 minutes away.
We just enjoyed a lovely walk and came to the burial mounds at the end. My photo doesn't really do it justice. All the treasures belonging to the East Anglian kings that were excavated in the 30s are safely housed in the British museum, but it's quite an atmospheric place, all the same.
Last week we got some unusually wintery weather for a couple of days. Naturally the boys were happy about it, but it did cause us a little bother.
We'd invited the Norwich relatives for an early Thanksgiving lunch on the Sunday. Unfortunately, at the precise time that the turkey was cooking and they'd be making their way, it snowed and snowed and they were stuck on the Norwich ring-road and the outlook was so awful that we called it off.
There's something a bit depressing about having so much food for so few; it really wasn't the same without a crowded table. But never mind, the empty chairs didn't dampen the boys' festive moods.
And needless to say, there were plenty of leftovers!
