Hi2u 4 people with hidden impairments
Attempting to open doors for people with hidden voices.
Story by Simon who has dyslexia and dyspraxia age 16.
My Dog Scamps
In 1998 my Dad got a job in Dubai and we joined him three months later
after selling up and having to leave out dog ‘Stumpy’ back in the UK. I
attended a private school but was finding it has to settle and keep up with
my peers. My mother spoke with my teacher and it was suggested that I be
tested for dyslexia I was 8 years old. The test came out that I am Dyslexic
but also Dyspraxic. I was put on a learning support program but after a year
my handwriting was not improving and everyone else had work put up on the
wall but not me. My Mum then contacted the Discovery Centre in Cardiff and
we flew to the UK for tests to be carried out on Dyspraxia. I have floppy
muscles that means I cannot grip a pencil for long periods of time, it was
there that the suggestion of a laptop was talked about. I really enjoyed
that week because I stayed with my cousins on a smallholding with lots of
animals. When we returned to Dubai I really didn’t want to go back to
school, I cried, I didn’t tell my Mum or Dad why but I did tell my brother
who then told my Mum and Dad. I felt isolated, no real friends and the other
children at school would call me names. My Mum then suggested we get a dog
and that is when Scamps came into my life.
We got a dog because we have always had a dog except when we lived in an
apartment in Dubai and the period of time between the death of my Mums dog
Sally and getting our second dog Stumpy in the UK. Scamps is our third dog
and our first in the UAE. Another reason why we got scamps was as a
companion for me because I was being bullied at school and going though a
miserable time so in a way he was someone I could talk to and he couldn’t
tell anyone.
Scamps is a very trusting dog and also very faithful because he will do just
about anything you tell him if he understands it also there are a few
special characteristics that really stand out in his personality like the
fact that he loves attention and he’s like putty in your hands when you pick
him up. He will eat just about anything as long as me or my mum or dad are
eating it for example pickled onions, one fell on the floor at dinner and he
ate it. Scamps was abandoned found walking the streets with another dog,
they don’t treat animals very well out here, K9 took him in. When we got him
we took him straight to the VET, he was a bundle of fluff. The VET gave him
injections and put some stuff on him to get rid of ticks, we also had
special shampoo because the VET said he had so many ticks his skin would be
very sore for a while. We had to leave him in the kitchen for a whole week
and every morning my Dad would collect the ticks of the white tiled walls
and floor. I would take him for a walk every morning before school and
couldn’t wait to get home to cuddle him. He won a prize at the dog show and
I was really proud of him it was whilst we were there that someone suggested
he was a pedigree dog and sure enough he is a Lhasa Apso. What we didn’t
know was that the VET was wrong in suggesting he was about 18 months old he
was more like 5 months old because in the first few months we had him he got
bigger and outgrew his sleeping box.
Pets are for life…
Simon
This story was received on 12th April, 2005
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