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            BlueCollarDaughter
 raised to profess social justice and faith

Our Autism Odyssey: Günther and Friends

09/28/2011

3 Comments

 
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Toe tools on his swanky new German import, his adaptive bike, Gunther
A recent visitor to our home said to me:

"Wow, your house is like a daycare...and kind of like a zoo.  A little bit like a playground and a physical therapy center too.  With a bit of 'construction zone' thrown in!

Depsite what you may be thinking, I acutally really like the person who said this and didn't bounce her out on her tukus.  In her reality as an education specialist, that was a complement.  In fact, she plopped right down on the dining room floor and started playing with stuff and cooing, "Oooo, I want this!  And this!  And one of these!"

Welcome to Toe Town, which is what we now call the place we eat and sleep (aka: home), where you may have to disengage the indoor "surf swing" before you can microwave your popcorn, or fold laundry on top of the indoor sand-drawing table, or sit in the bilibo therapeutic spinning rocker if the other limited seating is occupied.  Yes, we are 680 square feet of sensory processing disorder fun.  If you come by, wear your track suit and sneakers, and be sure to watch out for the weighted inflatable "traffic cones" scattered about--these are Roo's random kick-boxing victims and you may get an accidental flying Kung Fu to your tender places.

Toe and Roo's favorite purchase from Toe's grant, though (their least favorite being the screeching alarms on every door and window if they try to leave the house without permission!), is Günther the adaptive bike*.  Günther sailed all the way from Germany in a crate on a ship so Toe could take to the streets despite his mild fine and gross motor issues, and Günther is awesome.  His front tire is spring-loaded to pop back into forward alignment if Toe loses grip, he has removavble foot cradles to help keep Toe's shoes from slipping off the pedals and handlebar bulbs to help Toe maintian finger grip, his chain and gears are safely encased, he has a parent emergency control handle on the back with a powerful cylinder brake if Toe gets out of control, and there is a giant rubber-coated steel basket affixed to his Kraut hiney where Toe and Roo can pile all their crap or take turns riding like midget cargo.  Also, he has a powerful headlight and horn to announce, "Move it, mach schnell! Here I come!"

If you live on the East Side, your car is probably less valuable and moderately less pimped-out than Günther.

I have had several small heart attacks watching Toe tear off down the street with Günther, but it has all been worth the joy of watching him finally, after years of trying to control typical bikes, ride like the wind.  Fahrvergnügen!

*certain people will take pleasure in the fact that the German word for bike is "Rad."
 


Comments

Amy Doeun link
09/28/2011 18:09

It definitely is "rad." and so glad I remember what "mach schnell" means from my college German classes. Yes I really thought I would marry a German. I was off by a continent or 2.

Reply
BCD
09/30/2011 01:53

Ha ha! I say good for you for going with Asia. Germans marrying Germans can have it's "pros and cons." IE: the house semelling like cabbages a lot and being overly punctual. We can discuss over girl-talk coffee sometime :)

Reply
Megan
12/05/2011 10:40

Thinking of you! Long time to post!

Reply



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