Post by Gav on Apr 27, 2004 15:53:12 GMT
Cameron's condition does sound familiar. A few years ago I was on a skiing holiday in Austria, where we skied in groups of eight or so per instructor.
One of the girls in my group was a dyslexic dyspraxic - and I think she had something else as well, although I can never remember what it was. The long and the short of this meant, of course, that Ellie (the girl in question) had severe difficulty in learning on the slopes.
None of this is particularly remarkable in and of itself, except perhaps a little surprising that a 19 year old girl would choose to go skiing by herself (ie with no friends or family with her) to a foreign country where she didn't speak the language, despite having problems with motor control and learning. The truly remarkable bit is how she approached each day. Her difficulties meant that she effectively had to learn to ski again each and every morning we hit the slopes. That's bad enough, but then consider that we were in an "advanced" group - skiing off-piste every day, and when on-piste we'd be on black or red runs, in half-pipes etc, always on quite steep slopes, and never skiing slowly. Although she struggled initially every day, Ellie would be keeping up with the rest of the group by mid-morning, and keen to take on steeper slopes or ski faster or whatever.
Another problem for her came at lunch time when we'd stop to get something to eat. She didn't speak German - along with one or two others in the group (it was a group of Brits, with an English-speaking instructor) - and so everyone was at first told a few useful phrases to help them when they were out and about. The trouble was, Ellie of course couldn't remember what she'd been taught, and had to relearn her "pigeon German" every day. And by the time she came off the slopes in the evening, she'd forgotten it all again and would once again struggle in the evening when we went out.
Yet throughout the week, she never let it get her down, and would never allow it to be an excuse for holding the group up on the slopes. She'd ignore any disparaging remarks made when she got into difficulty with her German, and although she often admitted to being grateful to have me there in such situations (I speak quite good German, having lived there for eight years as a child), she never once actually asked for help herself or let any of it upset her.
When I came home again, I was struck by what a remarkable girl she was, and wished that everyone could demonstrate the grace and courage that she had.
Unfortunately, being younger and even more stupid then (if that's possible!), I never asked her for her phone number or address or anything like to stay in touch, as I didn't want it to seem like I was coming on to her. I thought it might have been a bit embarassing - for her and for me. It's a foolish decision that, with hindsight, I really regret, coz I think that everyone would have a lot to learn from her...
But anyway. Just a short tale that I hope may give some insipration to Cameron, and possibly his Mum as well, whenever things seem to be getting too difficult and you can't see a way forward...
One of the girls in my group was a dyslexic dyspraxic - and I think she had something else as well, although I can never remember what it was. The long and the short of this meant, of course, that Ellie (the girl in question) had severe difficulty in learning on the slopes.
None of this is particularly remarkable in and of itself, except perhaps a little surprising that a 19 year old girl would choose to go skiing by herself (ie with no friends or family with her) to a foreign country where she didn't speak the language, despite having problems with motor control and learning. The truly remarkable bit is how she approached each day. Her difficulties meant that she effectively had to learn to ski again each and every morning we hit the slopes. That's bad enough, but then consider that we were in an "advanced" group - skiing off-piste every day, and when on-piste we'd be on black or red runs, in half-pipes etc, always on quite steep slopes, and never skiing slowly. Although she struggled initially every day, Ellie would be keeping up with the rest of the group by mid-morning, and keen to take on steeper slopes or ski faster or whatever.
Another problem for her came at lunch time when we'd stop to get something to eat. She didn't speak German - along with one or two others in the group (it was a group of Brits, with an English-speaking instructor) - and so everyone was at first told a few useful phrases to help them when they were out and about. The trouble was, Ellie of course couldn't remember what she'd been taught, and had to relearn her "pigeon German" every day. And by the time she came off the slopes in the evening, she'd forgotten it all again and would once again struggle in the evening when we went out.
Yet throughout the week, she never let it get her down, and would never allow it to be an excuse for holding the group up on the slopes. She'd ignore any disparaging remarks made when she got into difficulty with her German, and although she often admitted to being grateful to have me there in such situations (I speak quite good German, having lived there for eight years as a child), she never once actually asked for help herself or let any of it upset her.
When I came home again, I was struck by what a remarkable girl she was, and wished that everyone could demonstrate the grace and courage that she had.
Unfortunately, being younger and even more stupid then (if that's possible!), I never asked her for her phone number or address or anything like to stay in touch, as I didn't want it to seem like I was coming on to her. I thought it might have been a bit embarassing - for her and for me. It's a foolish decision that, with hindsight, I really regret, coz I think that everyone would have a lot to learn from her...
But anyway. Just a short tale that I hope may give some insipration to Cameron, and possibly his Mum as well, whenever things seem to be getting too difficult and you can't see a way forward...
