Playing the Field

Yesterday I posted a photo of Maggie and Juan. They remain “close friends” but I have news. Ms. Maggie plays the field. She’s been flirting with Tyre.

Strumpet.

Maggie’s class consists of six students - two girls, four boys. Excellent odds. No sense putting all your eggs in one basket. She’s only a freshman, after all.
Of the four boys, both Maggie and I have known three for several years. The other girl, Cuiping, and Juan are the only kids I did not know before this year. There just are not that many kids in wheelchairs and you tend to get to know the kids around your age. Juan is not in a wheelchair at all and he ran in different circles. I’m not sure, but I believe Cuiping recently moved to San Francisco so we didn’t know her either. But we know the rest of the boys. Maggie and Grimaldy have been in the same class since second grade. The other two boys are a bit older, but there has been overlap at several points. Robert less so than Tyre, but there is familiarity there.

Tyre is just a couple of years older and there has been a lot of overlap. Plus I know his mom Nadine. We used to do a parent presentation together all the time and we would run into them at the doctor and other places. Hence, Tyre and Maggie are pretty good friends.

Tyre’s abilities and disabilities are more like Maggie’s than anyone else in the class. He has medical issues as well as disabilities and he, too, is very good at using his communication device. Tyre cannot control his arms and hands sufficiently to access the communication device, therefore he uses a pointer on his forehead. It is not sticking out or anything, it’s just a dot that communicates with the device electronically. He’s a whiz at that thing. He also has a little bit of oral speech. (Showoff.)

One day Maggie found herself next to Tyre. Because he has trouble keeping his arms still from the constant movement, Tyre’s arms are restrained with Velcro straps. This is not a bad thing, believe me. It allows Tyre to concentrate on what's going on around him without the distraction of his constantly moving arms. Maggie, has zero problem with her arm movements, in fact, that’s her strength. Maggie also LOVES Velcro.

Nadine learned this from Tyre’s “news” on his talker when he got home from school. Apparently, Maggie kept reaching over to Tyre ripping and ripping at the Velcro. When she finally got his hand loose she held his hand all through the lesson.

Hearing that made Nadine laugh and she asked Tyre is he like that. He grinned from ear to ear – and you haven’t seen a grin until you’ve see this kid grin - and said aloud “yes.”

I’m sure Robert’s next on her hit parade. She has to get to him. I think he’s graduating.