Good evening folks! Above is a photo of Emmie taken today at Fenton's. Yes, that scoop of ice cream is pretty close to the size of her head! Today was Becky's birthday, I have mentioned her before. She was a wonderful person and friend and Emmie was especially fond of her. We lost her last October and today had our own celebration of love in her honor. We went to Fenton's for ice cream with her husband, Moose, one of her sons, Chad, and his most darling girlfriend, Miss Vanessa! Emmie ordered the kids banana split! I know obesity is a huge problem in our country..I wonder why? That's a kids size?! WOWZA! She had a blast and of course she loves Moose and finds Miss Vanessa and Mr. Chad to be a delight. I can tell you I heard their name in more than one sentence on the way home including in the sentence, "Can you call Miss Vanessa and tell her I love her?" "Oh, can I write her a letter too?" One day, her and Chad are going to make amazing parents to a very blessed child. They are extremely patient with Emmie, and trust me, that's a hard one sometimes! But, Emmie isn't attached to many people, but anyone could love this family, and I think Miss Vanessa is a keeper!
The problem I have with Emmie around other people is socialization. She usually enjoys being around people, especially if she is attached to me. But I worry because she can't read social cues and tends to be louder than most. She can't tell when she's being too loud or too rowdy, she can't tell that you have had enough, or that what she is doing may be rude, not funny, or just funny and fine! She also has visual distractiblity, meaning she has a hard time focusing if there is movement around her. For example, if you are in a place like Fenton's where people are having a handful of conversations around her and you are asking her a question, she may not hear you because she notices the waitress walking toward the table. She may give you an answer without hearing and processing exactly what you said or how you said/meant it. I do use hand signals to show her when enough if enough, when to stop, when to listen, etc. It provides the extra visual cue in situations where it's not appropriate for me to talk across the table. Socialization is something we are working on but also something I struggle to teach her. Teaching a person to read other people and how they are feeling is pretty hard!
On another note, the President of the National Cued Speech Association emailed me. After reading his email, I laughed. He certainly understands the same screwed up system I am dealing with. Bless his heart. I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship between me and Cued Speech!
Well, I'm exhausted! It was another hot day in our house, but we enjoyed spending time with Moose and his family. And as you can see, Emmie had a sticky, ice cream blast too!
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