Beth has been doing a little program at school. It’s for teenage girls only and IÂ think it focusses on communication and socialisation a fair bit as well as teenage awareness and sexuality. I have noticed such an improvement in Beth socially that I am going to speak with our Middle School Coordinator and ask her about the program and see if it is that that has made a difference.
Three things have happened that has made me believe this. Firstly, when I drove her into the school grounds a week or so ago we turned around where all the kids line up, on the other side of a big chain fence. Beth waved hello to a boy on the other side and mouthed hello. Now usually Beth seems to be totally unaware of anybody else around her and often I have to poke her to acknowledge a person when they say hello. I just thought it was a one off but was very pleased.
Then on Monday Beth saw a boy called Farnham riding his scooter on the pathway when we left school. Beth called out “Hello Farnham” and waved then said “I saw you.” Farnham turned and said “Oh did you Beth, where was I” and she replied that he had been riding his scooter on the path. So really she was talking about that exact time but still, she had reached out and made the effort to speak and seem interested in something that somebody else was doing.
Then last night my friends son Brayden said hello to her as we were walking to the car. Brayden is a particularly friendly boy and every time I see him he says that he saw Beth that day. Beth barely even acknowledges him usually but before I could even say anything she waved to him and said goodbye! Maybe something has finally clicked in. I’m not sure what’s involved in the course but perhaps it talks about it being bad manners to ignore people? Either way I’m so pleased with Beth’s progress.
