“What do you do when you carve out some time with your friends?”
Every Monday night I join a group of ladies at Starbucks for knitting. Sometimes very little knitting happens but a lot of talking goes on. Sometimes we have show and tell where we share the new things we bought. Sometimes we have “tutoring” where someone will help someone with a knitting problem they are having. We discuss books, movies, social trends, things that happened during the weeks, jokes we heard, and many other topics. Sometimes we use the time to vent, celebrate, or just commiserate with each other.
This time to get together is so precious to me and I really enjoy being with my friends. They have different personalities and strengths so all of them are great fun to be around!
I found out too late though that my students with disabilities really don’t know how to have fun with their friends outside of school. Many of my students who graduated now are allowed to be my friend on facebook and I notice that they don’t have many friends their own age. They have their relatives who are their friends and other adults who are friends with their parents but not many friends their own age. Since many of my students were unable to get their driver’s license so they don’t usually leave their home during the day when their parents are working.
I find it sad that I don’t know how I could have helped them plan for recreational activities outside of school. There isn’t any public transportation near their home so they could have to go to places within walking distance. They don’t live near each other and usually the parents don’t want them out alone so we connect through facebook or text messages. They don’t have a job either so they are pretty isolated. There are no agencies that can help them with this either.
Do you have any suggestions that I could give them? Please share.
Image: 'Friendship'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12187063@N02/2725681894
Found on flickrcc.net
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