Geraniums

I feel a bit like Eliot's mad(wo)man shaking a geranium at the world sometimes... and am so pleased that this strategy actually works sometimes (like the PRue Macsween and Channel 7 debacle). Not that I alone achieved much but the dedicated people who started the facebook group and the many (myself included) who joined in the campaign - yep it worked. How good is that??
On Thursday there was a letter to the Herald about inclusion of children with special needs in regular classes - it was a response to an article about the recent enquiry which highlights the desperate need of skilled staff better resources and more funding for inclusion in our schools. After listening and participating tot he Prue Macsween debate - and having the busy week from hell - I quickly drafted up a letter and emailed it to the SMH. I didn't take time to think much more about it because it was my first week back for the semester so I was flat chat and to top it off I had double booked myself for a uni research workshop and a tea party to help promote deeper friendships for Hannah at school. So yes click in haste...

When I finally got home on Thurs night and saw the email saying my letter had been shortlisted for publication - I nearly ahd a heart attack! I went tot eh sent items and carefully read it many times - how would it sound to x? What about group y? etc That is when Rhapsody on a Windy night came to mind...

But I am a gardener and in my garden there is not that much 'onion weed'. To point - yesterday I took Hannah to dance class (yes mainstream again!!! - although only because there isn't a spec needs class that we could go to) - it went fantastically well - and then (I failed to make the Uni worksop ...sigh) a tea party with 5 kindy kids - most of the parents stayed - the kids had a blast, the parents enjoyed chatting. Everyone there knows Hannah and a bit about DS - it didn't rate a mention - and why should it? It doens't define our existence although it is a significant part of who we as a family are.

The kids decorated cupcakes, jumped on the tramoline, 'cooked' with palydoh, played with the dolls house, had a 'concert' (using my bed as a stage - 'eyeroll'!lol). They all settled in very quickly and played as you'd expect a great bunch of 5-6 year olds to do... a really lovely afternoon worth the effort of staying up half the night making cupcakes on Friday - and yes even worth letting down the Uni researcher for - mainstream education for us at the moment is about Hannah's social evelopment and sense of belonging in her community as well as her literacy and numeracy skills after all....