Sally's World

Deion had a dentist appointment today, sad child that he is he was actually looking forward to it…he says the drill sounds like a car in his mouth…

Anyway...

It was busy as usual, so we sat to wait and Deion was showing me something fascinating about a power ranger in his magazine…a lady came in dressed in a suit, with a briefcase and no child, so I’m guessing she was there in a professional capacity.

The only spare chair was opposite Deion, so she sat down…and proceeded to very deliberately NOT stare at Deion. I find this even weirder than the staring thing. So okay, Deion is in a wheelchair, he dribbles sometimes, but really, he just looks like the average child.

Deion of course is fine with the staring, he says that people only stare at him because he is so good looking, because that’s what we all tell him.

This lady was looking everywhere but at him, the poster above Deion's head was apparently fascinating, as was the floor by his feet, and the spot just to his left equally hard for her to tear her eyes from!

It was very obvious what she was doing…but hey, we don’t care about this sort of thing, we've got used to it and ignore it pretty much.

Deion was telling me a story by now in his own special way, he sort of gets all excited when he retells something he find interesting, and jiggles around and was laughing more than he was talking, so his magazine fell off of his lap and on to the floor.

To our surprise, the lady opposite then yelled, “YOU’VE. DROPPED. YOUR .MAGAZINE.” In a very slow voice.

The waiting room went quiet.

“THANKS. BUT. YOU. DON’T. NEED. TO. SHOUT.” Deion said back equally loudly and slowly.

This amused me and most of the other parents in the waiting room.

“SORRY. I. DIDN’T. REALISE. I. SHOUTED.” She yelled back!

Then she passed Deion his magazine back.

“THANK. YOU. VERY. MUCH.” Said Deion in the same loud, slow voice.

The lady walked away then and Deion turned and said to me and said “I had to to talk to her like that mum, I think she has special needs.”

Well, this got me laughing, and the mum sitting next to me almost fell off her chair.

The thing is, it wasn’t anything malicious on that ladies part, and it happens all the time, people talk over children with special needs and disabilities presuming of course that they don’t understand. Or yell and talk slowly, thinking they are not going to understand.

But I can’t help feeling as though people should know better.

Well, Deion wasn’t worse of for the encounter, and was perfectly happy one the dentist had driven her special car in his mouth, and he went back to school to show off his special sticker!

Have a great day; I’ll be chuckling about that for the rest of the day I think!

Sal xxx