School (part 1)

When I was just a few months old, Mom started taking me to the Alberta Children's Hospital twice a week for physical therapy and then I started attending the Pre-School Multi-Handicapped Play Program at Dr. Townsend School Hospital. There was a physiotherapist, child-care workers, and a speech therapist.  I wasn't able to talk until I was six years old but I communicated using a special board that had pictures I could point at to show what I meant. 

We had an outside playground that I loved to play in.  We did neat things like sit in Jell-O and paint on a mirror with chocolate pudding (maybe that is what started my addiction to chocolate).  We had fantastic entertainment too, signing and great parties!  I also learned some sign language and received leg braces, used a walker, electric wheelchair, and different kinds of feeding devices.  You name it; I have tried it!  I also had to wear a helmet. That was the worst because I always had helmet hair!  I had taken a tumble and cut my head open a few times, so my parents decided that constantly wearing a helmet was better than taking me to the doctor and listening to me scream.

Dr. Townsend’s Program was a good program because it mixed hard work, physical therapy and speech therapy with lots of fun activities.  I made a lot of friends in the program.  Looking back, I know that it was helpful to be in a class with other young people with challenges because it meant I wasn't the only one going through this; there were other people in a similar situation.  I wish I had kept in contact with my friends there and could see what they're doing now.  I encourage an option like Dr. Townsend's for parents wondering about the possibilities for their child with a disability. The program has since moved to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

After a few years at Dr. Townsend’s School, my teachers encouraged my parents to enrol me in kindergarten. The search was on to find a similar environment and we decided on public daycare.  It was another important hurdle for my mother as we were moving out of our safe zone and I was going to be in the big world now, with all the so-called normal kids. It was the first of many hard decisions for my parents who had trouble imagining me in the regular system.  It was also the first of many times that I would prove them wrong.  My parents selected a daycare in Calgary, where I attended for two years, completing kindergarten in the last year.

I met one of my first good friends in playschool and kindergarten.  We would spend weekends at each other's houses, playing dolls for hours on end.  Her father was from Denmark and her family moved back there in elementary school.  We have kept in touch writing letters back and forth and she came back for a visit in high school.  We were lucky to find each other on Facebook and one of my dreams is to go visit her in Denmark.  I know that this will come true as I have been a very fortunate woman to have friends and family who help make my dreams come true.