Wednesday, September 2, 2009
A Simple Smile Can Brighten Your Day
Last year I volunteered at a therapeutic riding center. Kids with all different types of disabilities would come out and ride horses in a class as a form of therapy. There was this one boy in particular that I remember working with. He was around 7 years old and I think he may have been autistic. He hated to have people tell him what to do and even worse to have someone touch him. He also did not want anything to do with the horse and got frustrated with it easily. During the class they would play little games, practice steering the horse, and trotting around the arena. Some days were better than others, but they all consisted of him not wanting to do what he was told and complaining about it. The worst was the trotting part. After each class, the kids had the option to walk their horse back with us and untack them and brush them. Of course he never wanted to do that either. There was one day towards the end of the year where he volunteered to trot first and his complaining was replaced by a smile. After class he walked back with me and held on the the horse's lead rope. The horse kept stopping to eat grass, which usually made him upset, but this time he thought it was funny. When I left that day, I knew I had made a difference and coming there wasn't a waste of my time. All it took was that simple smile and laugh on one day.
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Hi Lindsay:
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool story! I've worked with autistic kids, and they never cease to fascinate me. I also can't help but compare myself to them, to remark on our differences. I knew one kid who could paint better than me and he loved when I would climb on the jungle gym with him. I wonder what it's like to have trouble bonding with other, to not really be interested in others, and then I think about how for must of us our friends/loves are our major focus, at least during HS and college. You might explore these ideas in a memoir, or some of your own.
I worked with an autistic kid in high school. Every time I would see him I would give him a word and he would spell it. He could spell any word you said and he was 8 years old. It was incredible! I like this story, because in my year that I worked with kids I constantly felt like I wasn't making a difference. It means a lot when something happens that makes it feel worth it.
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