Hello, I am a little boy who only sees right with his heart...
Which doesn't make my parent's daily life any easier. So I'm blind and different (mentally speaking).
This blog was born in french during autumn 2003 and is now progressively being translated in your language.
New articles will therefore appear on a regular basis.
DISCLAIMER
... my apologies to the people who hadn't understood this yet, all articles on this website are created and written by myself (his dad).
Lou is currently unable to do it,, just like he is to this day unable to grasp the concept of a "computer", "internet", or to focus for a long period of time on a conversation. Only time will tell us if we manage to integrate him completely in the world in which he lives.
Therefore all stories, despite relating actual facts, are obviously biased by my interpretation of his behavior. But having known him for over five years, I don't think I'm getting it wrong.
Thank you to the "Roi Baudoin" foundation ( "Parcours hors pistes" ). The new design, hosting and translations were partially made possible by their financial support.
Many thanks to Marco Pappalardo et Laetitia Bouet for the translation.
Visits
Blog Search Engine -Search Engine and Directory of blogs. Looking for blogs? Find them on BlogSearchEngine.com
monday 31 january 2005
49. My sixth sense
I have a sixth sense that rarely deceives me... to the great displeasure of my acquaintances. I may be blind and "different" in my head, I inevitably perceive the tensions or the joys, whether someone is doing well or not, if he's happy or unhappy... I reckon you can tell that by somebody's tone of voice... But what's really going to blow your mind is that I don't need to talk or hear the person ! And when somebody is cheating (meaning he's pretending to be happy when he is really stressed), I also notice right away. Needless to say with mommy or daddy (especially daddy) : I saw through him right away. And I don't like it when he's not doing well or stressed. And with the job he's got ... Godd thing it doesn't happen too often ! In conclusion, I'm a regular sponge... and since sometimes I'm the one creating the stress when I'm being "opposite", or even tired, I require an infinite ammount of patience.
Since the day I was born, or actually since she knows I'm blind, mommy had the brilliant idea of putting a very soft quilt in my bed, like silk. I love it : it's at the same time my pillow, my quilt, and my blanky. Actually it's really mommy's quilt from when she was a kid. Hence I have to admit it's not in very good shape. Regularly, when we go at grandma's, she performs an emergency mending because the stuffing is pouring out from the worn out parts. I won't even begin to tell you how many times it's been mended over the past five years. But I love it so much ... It's essential to me. Besides, often, instead of saying I'm going to bed, I say "We're gonna go see our soft quilt". By the way, you have no idea the positions mommy and daddy sometimes find me asleep in : often completely uncovered (despite a second quilt), sometimes rolled up in a ball or on the contrary, completely spread out, other times on my knees, curled up, the soft quilt on my head (to hide well?), sometimes, finally, sitting down legs spread out and my body laying down on my stomach over the bed. You should know I'm incredibly flexible ! I could sleep anywhere and any way. Sometimes I even fall asleep on the living room floor when I'm really tired from a busy day.
I've got a good one for you : from time to time, my parents take me to the countryside on week-ends, in a very rustic house (it used to be a farm). I've got my own room there, right next to theirs. One night, when I had decided to party on my own in my bed, my mommy and daddy were awaken by the noise I was making. I should mention there is only a thin wooden partition separating our rooms. They were under the impression I was talking to ... a ghost ! They could distinctively hear two very different voices : mine ... and a very low-pitched voice which they immediately recognized : Grandpa ! Yes, I was imitating perfectly the voice of my grandpa, who I love. It sounded something like this : Me : "How are you Granpa ?" Him : "I'm fine kid... how about you?" Me : "Very well, and Colargol hasn't been to school". Him : "Really ?" Me : "And do you like the armchair ?" Him : "Yes kid, I like the armchair. And do you want to go out in the yard ?" Me : "Yes, because grandma, she's gone." Etc... I can't tell you how much mommy and daddy laughed... Same tone, same intonation, same words (only grandpa calls me "kid").
It's just like the day when I would frantically repeat over and over the same uncomprehensible sentence : "alo, alo, alo, djacbai". Until the day daddy guessed the meaning of my onomatopoeias. I was imitating grandpa when he picks up the phone : "allo, Jacques Bailly...". I guess my parents can be a little hard-headed !
My favorite game for these past few weeks has been "Red lights ! Green lights !" You probably guessed it, the idea is to hold still when I say "Red lights !" and the opposite for "Green lights !". It is sometimes a good way for my parents to make me hurry when I'm lagging behind (for example in the stairway when going upstairs to take a bath), sometimes a good way for me on the other hand to make things drag on and more fun. So I adapt the game to everything : walking, eating, getting dressed,... and playing. Sometimes of course it's not very convenient for mommy and daddy when I decide to use "red lights" a lot, it slows things down even more. But it's so fun freezing on the spot, to stop with a spoonfull of cereals (which starts dripping on the table without me realizing it)... It's like this for everything with me : white or black, positive or negative... according to my mood at the time. Anyway, I love this game, which sometimes makes me tremble (litterally) from pleasure. Oh, by the way, I know there are also "orange lights", but I'm less interested in that... Why half-measures ? And most of all, why so much seriousness in this world, which I would like to be the landof plenty !
Since I'm shy about touching objects and I'm not much of an "entrepreneur", two years ago my schoolteacher came up with this sentence to motivate me : "Loulou, you must play with your small hands". Since then, it's become a classic in my language, especially since I still have (lucky me) the same schoolteacher. It sounds something like (to reassure myself and with a motivated tone of voice) : "See, you (me) musn't be afraid of playing with your small hands !" (as a reminder, Lou oftens confuses "I" and "you"). And every morning, when I'm driven to school, mommy or daddy remind me, like a nail you drive in, over and over : "Have fun playing with your small hands and Marie-Anne!"
Indeed, it's important if some day I want to learn braille, and discover a minimum of things !
On top of the dog, Mega, whom I still haven't introduced, I have to tell you about the new pet who arrived home a month ago : Virgule (comma). Sure there already was a cat, Fritz, but he died in early july. I don't know what that means, but one thing is sure, he's not around anymore. So on Eva's request, mommy and daddy got another kitten (thinking it would also be good for me!). But I don't really care for him, except he's always trying to jump on me when I'm swinging and I don't like that. We're not exactly friends yet... It's so-so... Although... Yesterday morning, when driving me to school, daddy took Virgule along to go to the vet and get his first vaccines.In the car, Virgule was crying constantly in his basket-cage. So I was all cute. During the whole ride, I talked to him : "You musn't cry, little Virgule... You musn't be afraid... It's just a small injection..." And I know quite a bit about that, since every evening I get my daily hormone shot (which I accept elegantly). Maybe that will make me closer to Virgule...
Sometimes I like being "Roudoudou". Daddy always says the biggest satisfaction for a mommy or a daddy is when their little child is asleep in their arms, in a relationship of complete trust and surrender. He like this situation so much. But with most children, that relationship eventually fades away, or even disappears. None of that with me ! Anyway I don't really have much of a choice : because of my handicaps, I have to trust others. So I can be all cuddly in other people's arms. Besides, I've learned how to cuddle in a pretty cute way... And then, I copied my sister Eva, and I make big declarations of love to my parents : " I loooooooove you, mommy!" (or daddy). And they're very good at showing me they appreciate that. It's a nice change from the hard times !
Thanks to music I discovered that other languages were spoken throughout the world. Not like Eva, my sister, who when she was little asked what you had to do to get several languages by pointing to her mouth. No, I got it right away. So daddy started talking to me with the english accent. It didn't take very long for me to start imitating him. Anyway I'm very good at speaking English, well, French with an English accent, and I find it very amusing. I do however pronounce a few words in English. Especially since the beginning of this year, I have an english classmate, and I hear my teacher talking to him in Shakespeare's tongue. Hence, in addition to "Yes", I came home telling mommy "why are you crying ?" (in
english). Everything definetely sticks to my "hard drive". Imagine if some day they manage to "wire everything right". But that's a whole other story !
I love more than anything to invent, create or reproduce sounds. Some day daddy should
even mention it to his sound technician friends from movies (I'm kidding, because to do that I would need to be able to work while looking at the pictures!). In fact, I can imitate perfectly (among other things) the sound of the lawnmower and the edge trimmer. Notice the accuracy : they are two very distinct sounds ! As soon as I hear a lawnmower in the neighbourhood (even two hundred meters away), I wanna go out in the yard to listen to it... Hence the crisis when the grass is wet (see Article of 24/9 MyOwnWorld "my user's manual"). The most beautiful anecdote in that area dates back to ... sunday. Our neighbours have been refurbishing their basement for a week : cleaning, painting, drilling holes, etc...
So on sunday, the neighbour sees me on my way back from the market with daddy and he comes to say hello : " Hello, Mister Lou" I recognize him immediately by his dutch accent... and I don't reply. Daddy : "Lou, are you saying hi to Geert ?" My answer : " Vrrrruuiiiiii" ( onomatopoeia ) Geert (nicely) : "What lovely noises you make". Daddy - TILT in his head - : "Lou, what is the noise you're making ?" Me (Lou) : "I'm imitating the works". And indeed, I had just perfectly imitated the noise of the power drill drilling into a rock and which can be heard from a distance (I'm convinced, dear reader, that this particular sound comes immediately to your mind). Daddy had guessed well and Geert, he couldn't believe his eyes !
Going on about motor skills, or rather mobility, it would be great if everybody made an
effort not to park on sidewalks, street corners, (...). It often happens to us, to daddy or mommy (with me), having to get off the sidewalk and onto the road because somebody "in a hurry" or "inconsiderate" parked his car badly (just like during Boitsfort's market, on sunday mornings... don't tell me you can't walk the extra fifty meters). Conclusion : If you help and think to the others, the others will help and think to you. Regards Lou's Daddy
28. My motor skills (3) : the freedom of movement of the visually impaired
Daddy dreams that some day, researchers will think even more about the millions of blind and
visually impaired people around the world (100.000 in Belgium alone - just shows how many
there are holed up at their home!). It would be great if someone came up with a GPS (global positioning system) even more accurate (we're getting there), but most important, developped devices adapted to us :
devices we could talk to, and that would answer us back. A device that would tell us where we are ("you are in gare du Nord" for example)... It would be a revolution for all of us (speaking of which, they say this year is the european year of the handicapped)
Since I'm moving around on my own, it's important that nothing is left laying around on the floor of the living room and that things can always be found in the same place (such as my
rocking chair for example). A chair pulled out from under the table and forgotten, and it's the crash. A
tennis ball forgotten by the cat ? ...and I make a slip. The dog laying down anywhere ? "Kai Kai Kai"... I crush ! (although with time she finally got it. Even if she's sleeping, she hears me coming and moves out of the way right away).
Anyway, it's strange, but the whole family (and my sisters), who were rather messy, they
all became great cleaners ! He he he ! (continued...)
I started walking on all fours around the age of fifteen months... But I didn't really feel
like it. I was basically scared ! Put yourself in my shoes. Anyway I'd rather live of sounds. Around two years old, I started walking by holding hands. My guide (mommy, daddy, or somebody else) being in charge of warning me about every obstacle : a step, a wall, a door, a staircase... I had to learn balance as well. And I swear to you, without any sight, it's not easy ! That's how I eventually ended up walking "on my own" around two and half years old. Because I had to and because I was forced to ! Since then, I'm starting to feel more confident, to take more initiatives in the places I know. I climb up and down the stairs on my own (...always on demand) like a king... But I often forget to put my hands in front of me. Soon, if I apply myself to it (and if I accept it !), they will give me a "pre-stick" at school. It's a weird thing, like the handle of a lawnmower (so shaped like an arch), except at the end there's a roll rolling over the ground. It will teach me to "feel" obstacles with my hands by the means of using a "stick". Finally, they will have to wait until I'm all grown up to give me a real stick and for me to know how to use it. Then, I'll especially have to think a little more in my little head, because if it was
anything like nowadays, I would leave it behind anywhere and wouldn't remember where I put it. (... continued)
