his key worker gave me a laminated sheet of three photos she wanted to show me of his day. When I glanced at the photos I was surprised to see a little girl sitting with Freddie in two of them, one of which she was cuddling him. I asked who it was as I didn’t recognise her… until I looked closer and saw she was wearing a Disney princess dress. The dress rang a bell as I saw her that morning. I only saw her because I turned to look at who had made Freddie’s face light up so much and there stood this little girl in her princess dress. After I dropped him off I spoke with James and told him about the little girl Freddie was clearly fond of.
You see, having a none verbal child means I don’t know who Freddie is fond of, who he’s friends with, or who he plays with. He can’t come home and tell me about his day or who he sat next to at lunch. I know no names other than the ones I’ve picked up being there. On top of that he has one-to-care, so his key worker isn’t also responsible for another child or two so it’s not like I’m aware of children he would interact with. I know he loves nursery. I see his face when we arrive. I know he adores his key workers as I see the way he looks at them. I’ve even witnessed children talk to him, say hello when he arrives. It’s not the same though, it doesn’t compare to you’re child being able to tell you what they did and who with.
Seeing these photos made me emotional. It was lovely to see someone Freddie is friends with and them interacting. Then I knew why he smiled so much when he saw her – he was saying hello. It was an insight into his day, and it was extremely reassuring. He does have friends, they do play with him and they do like him. That’s all any Mum wants, especially a Mum of a child that is socially very different, for them to be okay and have friends.
