Can you see the tree that stands all alone on the hill? How complete she seems unto herself as you hurry by. But slow down, pause a while and look again. See how her sure branches reach and merge with the light infinity of sky. See how she makes love with the gentle breeze; caressed and fondled she whispers her delight in the shimmering of her delicate leaves. See how the sun warms her and the frost adorns her; different lovers who come to...
Today I spoke to the secondary pupils at Maple Hayes Hall Dyslexia School. The title of my talk was: 'It's not what happens but how we choose to respond that counts.' I wanted them to know that despite (and perhaps because) of their challenges with reading and writing etc they can still lead happy, loved and successful lives. Thank you Jackie Tweedie for your repeated requests to the head teacher to get me in to talk. It's hard to say...
Yesterday was my last mentoring session with James (not his real name). I have been seeing James for an hour and a half every two weeks for over a year. Now the funding has run out as he has finished school and moved on to college. The primary objective of the mentoring was to prevent him from being expelled from school. We achieved that at least. I am sad that I won't get to see him anymore but he knows...
As I headed out for my morning walk today I walked past a mother with two toddlers. One was in his push chair and as I walked past he kept shouting ‘Hiya’ to me. I turned round and waved to him and his little voice kept chirping out ‘Hi’ as I walked into the distance. I was aware that his mother didn’t reprimand him and that it was mutually considered to be cute and acceptable. This led me to wondering...
