The Seminar

Saturday 15th

Friday was a bit I of a lost day. Having eaten a very dodgy Hot Dog at Addington school yesterday – I had to give my apologies to Charlotte & opt out of attending the seminar on Narrative Approaches to Family Therapy that she had very kindly arranged a place on for me on.

Despite the amount of training I have done over the years – delivering the training today had been playing in my mind since I got here. The session plan had been set & reset many times since my arrival. But I knew that once I got started – that everything would be fine. That’s how it tends to be with me. Give me an audience – something to talk about that I believe in & once I get on a roll – the cue cards become redundant & I fill in the gaps with ease. Thank God – today was no different. If perhaps even one or two of the students were fired up & enthused enough to want to make a difference to someone with learning disabilities - the day would be worthwhile.

I started off by telling the group that in the UK – people with learning disabilities have a presence in their community & so when I was here in October & didn’t see one learning disabled person in any town or village – coffee shop – shopping mall or restaurant & it got me thinking - “Where do these people hang out”? And it really did make me curious.

The group were a mixture of nurses at various stages on their training & a few social workers. The room was a good size & very comfortable. Given that bar a couple of participants – the students had little experience or exposure to people with learning disabilities – their interest in the subject was very encouraging. Questions were forthcoming – there were none of those dreadful pregnant pauses that usually communicate a total lack of interest & even though we covered too much material for the time we had – I didn’t feel that I had rushed any topic to the point of doing it no justice. And those of you reading this who have seen me teach – will know how particular theoretical points tend to trigger a memory of someone I have worked with & along comes a story to illustrate the theory – practice link. These were the bits that grabbed the attention of the students & I do hope that the anonymous stories served to enrich the topic. And so by the end of the session - the gruffness of my voice & hoarseness in my throat told me that the session had been a success. Teaching an appreciative group always enthuses me & even missing my turn & ending up taking an unplanned detour through a township area in a town I neither needed to be in & should have avoided – didn’t dampen my spirits or raise my blood pressure. As I negotiated the minor roads & found my way back to the N2 - a warm & satisfied feeling washed over me that confirmed that all was well. And so I made it back – poured a beer – sat out the balcony feeling the warm rain on my face & contemplated getting ready for a night with Terry & Gavin. I can’t for the life of me understand what I was worried about.