Mrs Down's Diary

BY the end of the summer I might have a crop of wheat in the back garden to rival anything seen in our fields. To entertain Ollie, our grandson who has a fixation with the last big heap of corn in the grain shed, I filled an old 'turtle' sandpit with a couple of buckets of wheat.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Apr 2009, 12:15 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 04:32 BST

Two years ago that would have made a very expensive toy resource. At today's rapidly dropping prices, it's not so bad. Ollie has loved it.

As he is autistic, sensory experiences are very important to him. To see him watch and feel the trickle of the grain, fill and refill his trucks, push his trains across a mountain of corn, bury the lot and then tip the whole works onto the lawn is great. It has absorbed his attention significantly more than any other of the toys, trampoline and climbing frame that are there.

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And, it has absorbed significant amounts of my time endlessly refilling the sandpit ,scooping the grain back up off the lawn and sweeping it out of the dining room and kitchen whence it has made its way into every little nook and cranny.

Next week we shall be having Jessica. As the sibling of a child with learning and communication difficulties, it is important to give her time that is special to her, without the often destructive (unwittingly I may add) force of her brother.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 15

Related topics:West Sussex Gazette