Spencer is 8 years old and wakes up as bright as a button at 6.30am when he hears the alarm. He happily gets dressed for school. If it’s a Tuesday, he will run into his brother’s room and look out the window to see if the local newspaper has arrived. If it has he is very excited and he will race outside to get it.
Next he wakes up our dog, Stella and sends her outside while he prepares her breakfast.
He happily chats with his siblings as he waits for me to prepare his breakfast. Spencer does not have access to the cupboards or fridge – he never complains about that – he just trusts that we will provide him with what he needs. His mornings before school involve eating breakfast, playing with the dog, playing with toys, packing his bag and cleaning his teeth. Every second Monday in the morning he has speech therapy before school.
Spencer goes to a local primary school and is in the support unit. He loves his teachers and his friends, he’s learning so many things and he’s really excited to learn. The school is great with him, which means that school is a very happy place for Spencer. It is wonderful for us that Spencer’s teacher has a great understanding of PWS, and is always researching on how to help Spencer at school. Change in routine is one of his biggest challenges in the school environment. In saying that, they have an excellent reward system for Spencer, which keeps things running well. His Occupational Therapist comes to his classroom twice a month on a Tuesday.
After school every second Tuesday it’s time for speech therapy, and on Wednesday Spencer does a hip hop class. He loves his therapists and he loves dancing. We also drive Spencer’s older siblings around to their various activities. We sometimes take the dog for a walk after school or go to the park.
Spencer always plays with his iPad for one hour before dinner – the ‘Yummy’ game is his favourite! He likes to watch Dr Who, or ABC kids.
Dinner is always with the whole family at the table. We have family time then its teeth, bath, stories, prayers and bed.
Most days are extremely busy, and when 7pm comes around Spencer is more than happy to rest his head on the pillow, he generally falls asleep quickly.
We spent a day with Spencer and his beautiful family recently, who shared such positive and inspiring information.
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