Adventures and Obsessions Overseas

by Seana Smith on Monday, July 26th, 2010

Many thanks to Benison for  holding the blog fort whilst I have been in Scotland.   I’ve been visiting my family and my husband’s family with the four kids, and introducing the twins, who are now four, to their Scottish family and heritage.

The twins and I will fly home tomorrow and Tom and his almost-11 year old, and very long-suffering brother, took the train to London today and fly home from there on Tuesday.

This visit to Scotland marks many milestones for us all and there have been many occasions when I’ve reflected on our ASD journey, where we’ve been, where we are now and where on earth we are all heading.

Firstly, it is amazing that Tom and Dexter have been able to fly to and from Australia without their parents – who’d have ever thought it?   They were well looked after by Qantas as “unaccompanied minors” and thoroughly enjoyed the flight over with all its movies, computer games and kids’ meals.

In London they are staying for two nights with our dear friend Jo, she was one of Tom’s ABA therapists and was his shadow at school as well.  In all she worked with Tom for five years, and, once faded out of school, she went overseas and has been in London for a few years.

I’m so grateful still to Jo for her calm and soothing personality, which helped me so much as she was helping Tom. Jo was terrific at making sure Dexter felt involved in Tom’s therapy and so he feels as warm towards her as we all do.

I must say that I really wouldn’t be happy to send Tom off on trains and planes alone, but he’ll be fine with Dexter, who is much more streetwise.   Likewise, I wouldn’t send Dexter alone, but feel he’s Ok with Tom who is a huge boy whom few would mess with.   Just hope they don’t lose the mobile phone.

Similarly, I wouldn’t really be happy to send them to stay with anyone but Jo.  She knows  Tom well and was keen to have them to stay.   Tom’s incessant talking and puppydog enthusiasm, plus his endless demands for money, junk food and musical instruments will not faze her.  We trust.

Musical instruments!  Don’t talk to me about them!  Never let it be said that Tom doesn’t have some flexibility in his obsessions.  He has discovered a whole new raft of them on this trip and all very culturally appropriate.  These include:

* the bagpipes… he talks about them incessantly and is desperate to learn.  He did get to blow a set and was delighted; me less so.  Other musical instruments obsessed over include banjo, ukelele, guitar and, bizarrely, the sitar which is not very Scottish at all.

* golf, the national game.  This is not a dreadful obsession to have, in fact it’s a handy one and I did manage to let him play a few times.  It’s just the going on and on and on about it.

* Irn Bru, Scotland other national drink, a fizzy pop par excellence.  Both my big boys loved Irn Bru, such a pity it has Sunshine Yellow colour in it and carries its own health warning about its effect on the “activity levels and concentration of young children.”

Anyway, be grateful for small mercies, Tom hasn’t yet obsessed about those other Great Scottish Drinks, whisky and Tennants Lager.  Nor has he taken up the tradional Scottish pastimes of chain smoking and eating bulk saturated fat.

His mother however may indulge in a wee dram before leaving the land of her birth tomorrow.