Sally's World

Deion has been made captain of his wheelchair basketball team. So I thought I'd take some photos of him and his team mates in action to mark the momentus occasion.

Go Deion, Go Deion, Go Deion!!!!

He is very proud of himself. And quite rightly so.

Their Coach is a really nice guy called Steve, who plays in the England Wheelchair basketball team, he's so great with the kids, they all love him to bits.

Obviously there are a whole different set of rules and plays...

Here are a few pictures of them completing a set play, You can't tell, but Deion is yelling his head off at about a billion decibels in eerrmmmmm...'encouragement' here!!

Apparently, that is one of his most important duties as captain!

Deions really committed now, he goes every Saturday morning and has an absolutely brilliant time.

Clubs are so important for all kids, I am a huge fan of structured activities... it's such an important part of a child social development and social life, I hate Deion having to miss out. It's hard to find good clubs that are wheelchair friendly, let alone wheelchair based as it were.

Of course there are a few extra issues, there are more than the usual amount of hospital appointments and stays among the team, and for the more fragile kids, more illness, but the club goes ahead no matter whether there are two or twelve kids.

Its also a great excuse for the mums to sit down for an hour with a coffee!!!

I know you're probably expecting a blog on something deep and meaningful today, maybe even helpful...or hopeful, well in that case, I'm about to disappoint you.

I thought I'd share my morning with you instead.

I've just spent an agonising hour trying to convince a doctor that the numerous scrapes and bruises that currently cover my body are not the result of me being a battered wife, but that I am actually nothing more than a very clumsy woman who has been roped into playing basketball.

'So why the bruises?' you may ask...Ha! not if you knew me.

I'm a tad clumsy, and if you substitute the word 'tad,' for 'totally,' then we'd be getting close. I spend so much time on my arse or flat on my face when we play that I actually came home with a footprint on my back last week. The slight black eye is due to my tendency to catch the ball with my face A LOT!

Now basketball may not be the obvious choice for someone as clumsy as me you might think, and I agree totally. But that didn't help me much when I got roped into it by one of Deion's over zealous (and basketball able) teachers.

We've found a wonderful wheelchair basketball team for Deion. The coach is a wheelchair user himself and plays for England, he has a great manner with the kids and they all love him. So because I was there hanging around waiting for Deion every week anyway, I apparently had no choice but to join in with the mums team.

'How bad can it be?' I thought, 'good for fitness, just throw the ball a couple of times, great.' Ha! I was very wrong. We may just be a group of mums, but we get quite competitive as it happens. The trainings fine, we're all smiles and 'how are the kids?' but split us into teams and tell us its a match and everything changes. No more Mrs Nice Guy!

The match looks more like a cross between a rugby match and WWF. And for some reason unfathomable to me, I seem to be right in the middle of every scrum/pale driver manoeuvre/five woman pile up going!

So yes, I may be a little battered, I may have a few bruises, but my goodness, I really enjoy the basketball. We laugh a lot as we pick each other up off the floor, and we are all prepared mums should the need to stem a bloody nose arise (it hasn't yet surprisingly). I enjoy the adult company, the female comaraderie and the vending machine does the yummiest hot chocolate.

Although I have to do is put up with Deions constant jibes about how rubbish I am compared to how fabulous he is. I really need to think of a way to bring that child out of his shell!!!

I invited the doctor to come along and see this phenomenon for himself, he declined, and although he eventually believed me about the bruises, I'm pretty sure he made a note of it on his computer.

Note to self, skip basketball when doctors appointment imminent.

Sal x

Hi guys, back again...So a few people went onto the Heavens Special Child web site and asked me about Deion. It may not have been clear in the video, but be fair, we had a lot of info to get over in a short amount of time(and all the umm's and ermm's took up most of that!!). Deion is my youngest son and yes, he is also a wheelchair user, many people asked me if Deion has the same condition as Aaron, but he doesn't, it is completely unrelated.(What are the chances...I know).

Deion was born at 28 weeks and has cerebral palsy as a result. But don't go feeling sorry for him, he may be in a wheelchair, but he has a cheeky streak equal to none. And he has absolutely no qualms about using his disability to his full advantage. When his brother or sister get told to tidy their room or take their plate out, he is often heard muttering "sucker" under his breath.

We go bowling a lot as a family, and god forbid Deion beats you, as he will bellow, "you got beaten by someone in a wheelchair" at the top of his lungs...and believe me thats loud. And if you didn't feel bad enough getting your butt wooped by a ten year old!!!!

I guess it's not bad though, considering that when he was five days old, he had a brain hemmorage so extensive that the doctors told us he would never talk. I'm always telling Deion that I'm going to go back to those doctors and demand my money back. You can honestly never shut the child up!!! he has an opinion on everything and voices it loudly and often. but mostly he laughs about everything, and it's a real cheeky laugh too.

Despite his physical limitations, Deion goes to a mainstream school, is as bright as a button and has tons of friends. At the moment we are embroiled in a nice big fight with Lewisham Education about his secondary school transfer. They need some advice on what 'full inclusion' actually means.

But as many of you said in your e-mails, life with special needs kids often feels like a constant fight, if its not schools, it home adaptaions, transport or benefits. I have never quite got my head around why 'the powers that be' insist on making life more stressful than it already is...but hey, I stopped trying to apply logic to it all a long time ago.

I hope that I was able to answer your questions and my e-mail advice was helpful.

Several people were asking for more info on the dolphins, so I'll get back to you tomorrow with that.

Take care

Sal xxx