Last week whilst I was out, in a cafe in a shopping centre, I noticed an older lady sitting near me, with a boy of about 15-17yo. You could tell this boy had some sort of intellectual disability. What I noticed for the time that I was there, was that these 2 people sat there in silence.
I did think there was a possibility that the boy could have been non-verbal. However that didn't bother me. What did bother me was that the older lady sat there with her head in the paper whilst drinking her coffee, not really interacting with this young man. I walked away slightly upset by this, however I quickly seemed to forget about it.
Today I was out again, in a different cafe, and coincidentally, the same 2 people were there too. Again, I watched them, and made the same observations as last time.
They sat there in silence, Her head in the paper, him looking around at whats going on, and no interaction going on between them. I wondered what this young man felt. Was he upset by this? Was this the norm for them? He truly looked lost
As I said previously I am fully aware that he may have been non-verbal.... However non verbal people still crave interaction and acknowledgment, like all human beings. This really made me sad... Ellie as you know is non-verbal, but that has never stoped us interacting with her, talking to her, acknowledging her. I have said this time and time again, even though Ellie has no words, she still communicates in her own way... She loves to interact.
As I said I am not being critical of this lady, it purely got me thinking... Got me thinking about Ellie... and made me never want to end up like this, and not be communicating with her.
