Finding the Key

I am in Montreal, well actually, Dorval.  I am staying at a heritage house, which has been converted into executive suites.  My entrance is at the rear of the house.  The suite is pleasantly appointed, not really my taste, but it’s sufficiently agreeable.  This has been my home away from home for the last couple of weeks.  I plan on walking around later to take some pictures. As my good fortune would have it, Hubby came to visit over the weekend and made sure I had wireless connection.  Yip, no being tethered to the wall for me.  yay! 

I am enjoying Montreal's French culture .  It’s part of Canada but it does have a unique cultural and heritage.  I’ve noticed people here although predominately French speaking, are willing to respond in English to us, and with a smile to boot!  In fact, I am finding the people here super duper approachable.   

I’m here because my son is taking a course to help develop his gross motor skills.  He has never been athletic because his core strength has always been an issue.  And as a growing teenager his strength deficient continues to make him physically awkward.  Simply, how this was explained to me is that because of the undeveloped gross motor skills he was experiencing some difficulty with processing information.  Kind of like being out- of- sync with the world around him. 

 And, this may very likely be the reason he is reluctant to speak in public.  He has always been an uncommunicative student.  This perplexed and frustrated teachers because although they knew he was a bright student, to access him they required him to be more communicative. Understandably this also impacted on his social skills and with connecting with his peers.   However, at home he is a different child, talkative, energetic and sometimes he could be a royal pain in the you-know-what.  When his friends come over there is no issue in how he related with them.  Obviously, this was a puzzle for us. 

I believe we’ve found the key that will unlock this puzzle.  In just one week I have noticed significant changes in him.  He is speaking more not just to me but also in public.  He orders his own food in restaurants, even going so far as ordering his desserts in French.   Furthermore, I’ve noticed he has more strength and focus as he runs. This is an enormous leap forward.  Yay! 

What I will say though, before we embarked on this road I had reservations on how effectively it would work.  I am delighted with the results thus far; I guess the actual test will be to see how this translates when he goes back to school.  And to think it all began when I discovered “The Brain that Changes itself” by Norman Doidge. M.D.