fuzzyboots

Hi lochie Glad the website was useful and thankfully reassuring for you. Don't get me started on the s&l cuts in Southwark. Cutting 1/3 of the staff in an inner London borough? Defies belief/ description. And this is, super ironically "the year of communication". Supported and promoted by the govt. I kid you not. Have a look at www. Hello.org.uk.loads and loads of useful info there too. I discovered by accident yesterday that 1st place children's centre in burgess park has loads of speech, language and communication professionals attached to it. You might find some useful and easily/quickly/freely accessible support there too. In fact, I would think that most children's centres have s&l provision locally, given the deprivation index in the borough and the number of families for whom English is not their first language at home. I really love OPs point about communication/ language development being the most important thing at the early stage. So true. If your son is a kinaesthetic learner rather than a listener/observer, I highly recommend you to play music instruments with him and dance with him. Grasping rhythm is an essential part of language development and literacy skills. Making language accessible within his learning style preference will really empower him. If you'd like to come to my free taster session at goose green on 20th July to see whether using gesture to SUPPORT (not replace) speech might help you at home and help him to be explicit in expressing himself to you, whilst he gets his Tongue and mouth and voice around words, then please do. This is not about selling you a place in class! It's about giving you some free tools to support your son. Absolutely no obligation to sign up for classes, because I think he'd probably be too old for us anyway. Talking of which, if you'd like some fun activities to do with communication but that don't feel like "work" I highly recommend Helen at talking tots who's just started classes in ED and fh this term. Lovely lady and v committed and an experienced primary school teacher and mum. Www.talkingtots.info if you're interested. Hth, Trish xxxx

Hi Lochie, I'm the local Sing and Sign franchisee (glad that the DVD's been mentioned as potentially supportive for you of course!) but you might like to visit www.talkingpoint.org.uk (run by Communication Charity I-CAN) to give you an idea of speech and language development milestones. Also, if you google Tina Archer (qualified local mum and SLT), you'll find her at activities in East Dulwich ( I THINK on Friday mornings at the EDT - but don't quote me on that). She runs Babble & Squeak and I'm sure she'd be happy to listen to you/offer guidance. Sadly, the Speech and Language Therapy waiting list situation seems to be shockingly long - so as OP recommended, please do not delay in referring your son in order to get things moving. Hope you have success in finding a solution/allaying your concerns. Trish Cummings x

Hi to all Sing and Sign recent graduates, as well as this term's families of course , are invited to join us at our Christmas Party in aid of ICAN, the children's communication charity, at Goose Green Community Centre on Wednesday 8th December (10.30 a.m. - 12 p.m.). Donations of a minimum of ?10 are invited for this event (total price per family). ALL PROCEEDS TO ICAN Please do come along and support the invaluable work of ICAN. To book a place, please go to www.singandsignchristmasparty.weebly.com. To make a donation to support the work of ICAN, whether or not you can make the actual party, please visit [uk.virginmoneygiving.com]. PLEASE SUPPORT US AND HELP US TO GET CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES COMMUNICATING Trish x

I think the new playground equipment looks fantastic. Yet to try it out with my two, but I'm sure we'll be regular and frequent visitors with its lovely revamp. Big thanks and hats off to the commitment and drive of FOGG and Denise Fulgoni in particular who have driven this project through in their own time. A great contribution to the local community, I reckon.

When my father wanted me to get a move on in the mornings, he used to bark Jeldi, jeldi, imshi shallah Which I think means "For God's Sake Hurry Up!" That's what it felt like, anyway!

And it's just had it's Ofsted report done which is brilliant. Marked as a "Good" nursery, but this is after a major move of premises, having to re-register with Ofsted, take on and train new staff, adapt to longer opening hours, accommodate maternity leave, etc! The report commented that their safeguarding children performance is outstanding and the inspector commented to the nursery that it was only because she had to do a snapshot of the nursery as it is "here and now" that she couldn't give it "Outstanding". But Carol and her team are aware of the areas for improvement and had already identified them. I'd put my bottom dollar on their next Ofsted report being Outstanding. The leadership is superlative and the team of staff committed, caring and highly professional. T x

Nursery/Pre-school in the case of the "local" Puddleduck is one and the same. HTH, T x

EMC, I normally always prefer submitting things online if possible, but I have always posted my CAForms (just did ours yesterday - phew!). If you can't work out the online editing (I'm afraid I don't know how it works), then there is a phone number on the Southwark School Admissions page on www.southwark.gov.uk (and an email address) and I'm sure they'll help you if they can. Alternatively, perhaps you could download the CAF from the Southwark website and post it in? HTH, Trish x

Yes in that case you definitely need to do that form and I suspect it needs to be sent in with your CAF (by this FRIDAY, 29th Jan). But do check this with the school office - I can't remember where I had to send the church form for my daughter! Trish

Thanks guys. I've got to the point where I am not brimming over with fury and am more able to feel pity for what seems to me to be a wasted life. I am however of the view that it would be better for him, the local community and the taxpayer if this man were to have a permanent cared who could physically hold on to him when he's out and about! Would be much less cost and protect him when he most needed it. Given that a policeman, a paramedic and serious case worker at met police have all encountered him previously, it makes me think that the system is failing him by not intervening so that he's not a repeated customer of theirs! Or is that controversial in terms of the State interfering with his right to be self determining? I'm not sure but I can tell you that it would be ghastly and tragic for this to happen to him and some other poor sod yet again.

Sandperson - that's a huge relief. I occasionally had to navigate that cycle lane after a meeting in the City, and it was so SCARY. Like taking your life in your hands. SHUDDER.

Barry you are a man after my own heart. It's so refreshing and encouraging to encounter someone who personally gives a damn about doing an effective job and delivering a good, personal, responsive service. Good for you and keep it up. I imagine you derive a great deal of personal satisfaction from going the extra mile and being personally accountable for your work. A breath of fresh air :)

A similar thing happened to my nana about 30 years ago and he stripped her rotten of some lovely (heirloom) pieces of furniture. My mother was up in arms about it, but my nana wouldn't hear a bad word of him. There are just some really sharp, nasty people around who are willing to exploit the vulnerable. Has DulwichHelpline got a view on this sort of thing, I wonder? Perhaps adding weight to the Community Wardens' stickers? I have no idea - they may do this sort of thing already, but perhaps if Helpline Users' Volunteers were to offer advice/guidance leaflets, they would be well and effectively received by the service users?

Quite so thebestnameshavegone! That was my sentiment entirely, although it seems I may not have made that clear! I would doubt that there's an insurance fraud element in operation here, though. The fire service, having unfortunately personally experienced a pretty serious housefire this year, are pretty damned good at initial assessment of the cause of fires, so I'm sure they'll have it all sorted. (Ours was an electrical fire caused by a random fault in an under the counter freezer and apparently, (we know now) they're not that uncommon!) Whilst it may be tempting to mentally allocate this fire at the Cafe to "youths in hoods", let us not condemn "them" before they are found to be actually culpable, or indeed, anything to do with it!

Cinema. Theatre. M&S that sells knickers... SAFER/MORE ROAD CROSSINGS?!

Coo kford ... rather controversial "youths in hoods"...?! (spoken as the mother of former hoody wearing teenager who didn't commit offences and who is now (as then) a charming young man studying languages at University!) I agree that "youths in hoods" can be threatening and can commit criminal acts, but still... And if anyone was responsible for attacking the Cafe in the Park, then bloody shame on them and I hope they/he/she get caught and made to face up to their actions and pay the consequences. Including a face to face apology to the business owners who provide, imo, a very lovely service. T x

Interesting thread! As a former commuting cyclist (used to cycle to Chiswick and back everyday) I would say that I've observed many cyclists jumping lights. Sometimes with due care and sometimes not. Even with the green boxes, which seem to be regularly hijacked by motorcyclists, it's often safer to leave in advance of the rest of the traffic behind you by a few seconds. That doesn't mean, however, that cyclists should disregard pedestrians or cycle through green man lights. Using shared cycle/bus/taxi/motorbike lanes is hazardous enough in itself. The roundabout at Waterloo/IMAX is particularly hairy as a cyclist, as is the cycle lane in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge. BAsically, EVERYONE should abide by the rules and then only "genuine" accidents would happen. I think it's the sheer volume of road/pavement users that cause the problems. It only takes a small incident for the whole system to seize up and it only takes one mistake to cost someone their life. I so hope that person knocked over has a favourable outcome. As a mum of three, I shudder when I see the risks that many drivers/cyclists/pedestrians take. And as the driver of the car that drunk man fell into 10 days ago, I guess it's on my mind more than most! T x

Hi Jitka, Yeah I know... and thanks for your support. I've just spoken to the "Serious Case Unit" of the Met Police and they're just about to initiate their enquiry. So please, anyone who was a witness,DO send in the questionnaire you'll receive so that I can get this thing over with a.s.a.p If all goes smoothly, it will take about 2-3 months (!!!!!!!!!!). If there's any doubt, the police have up to six months to refer it to the CPS. Apparently my caseworker has dealt with the gentleman before (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and he doesn't bother to reply to their enquiries... I think if one is a chronic alcoholic, yet another fall, whether life threatening or not, is not going to stop one drinking, sadly. Probably an extra reason to continue doing so, I imagine. T x

Hmmmm..... That sounds uncannily like him and I know that he lives in crystal palace road.I'm not at all surprised that he's still drinking,because I've never seen him even remotely sober. The injuries you describe would utterly fit what happened to him. yes he is white with extremely fair hair that looks white until you get close to him. Eclectic you have put my mind at ease that he's ok. I'm quite amazed that he's so "mobile" given what I saw of him at the accident scene. Thank you very much for that. I couldn't find out how he was because I'm not a relative. Message to all east Dulwich drivers..... Approach him with caution if he's on the pavement near you. Seriously, because he is often unsteady on his feet. In fact before the accident I cam honestly say I'd never seen him without a head injury of some sort. Very very sad situation but I'm relieved that he's out and about at least. Trish x

Huggers - I'd love to think so - that he can have a life affirming experience from it The cynic in me says not, but where there's life, etc!

Wow, Bara, thanks for that advice. Appreciated. Tx

I'm really touched and appreciative of your support - thank you so much everyone. Fortunately (!) I see a therapist twice a week so have had the opportunity today to have a preliminary download at her about last Friday's incident! I do have a really big issue with alcohol (other people's excess consumption of it - I'm virtually teetotal) and I've been aware all weekend that it's this issue that has been really getting to me, for all sorts of historical personal reasons. I've been very aware that I've been finding it hard to sympathise with the guy who fell into my car because of this - but I have had a couple of sympathetic (And horrific) flashes of the sight of him lying on the road/pavement, which in the long run I hope will develop into something productive. I'm feeling quite hopeful that this horrible happening may actually be one that I can really work on in my therapy sessions to help me deal with the huge (historical)and fundamentalist anger that I have about people getting excessively drunk and whose drunken actions affect others, which in a way is a potential gift from a ghastly experience. It will help me get a more balanced perspective of what happened and make a positive contribution to my therapy progress, I think. On Friday I felt like a complete victim of the scenario but it felt very directed AT me, which rationally I know it isn't, but emotionally it has obviously stirred up and intensified my very strong views about alcohol. I have to admit, I was initially quite fearful and probably defensive about my perceptions of the reaction of EDForumites to my posts, but I can now say hand on heart that I really appreciate your support. I've also now encountered online and in person other people who've had similar experiences and come through them, which is inspiring. Thanks guys! :) :) :) Not through the woods yet, but I feel I have a clearer path to take for now at least.

Your kind support and encouragement are much appreciated. I'm feeling in limbo somewhat - I can possibly get an update on what's happening/going to happen from the "Traffic Department" (Police) in a few days' time - apparently it will be up to six months from yesterday to decide whether this will need to go to court (!!!!!!!!!!!). Don't know how I can find out about the man's health. I KNOW it wasn't my fault, and this was corroborated by the witnesses who actually saw him fall, but it still feels awful that it was my car he fell into. The police said it was because he had a head injury that they "ramp up" the degree of response (i.e., the helicopter, ambulances, doctors, police cars, closed roads, etc). On the grounds that they can downgrade the response, but it's more difficult to ramp it up. Terrible business though (shakes head despairingly).

Your kind support and encouragement are much appreciated. I'm feeling in limbo somewhat - I can possibly get an update on what's happening/going to happen from the "Traffic Department" (Police) in a few days' time - apparently it will be up to six months from yesterday to decide whether this will need to go to court (!!!!!!!!!!!). Don't know how I can find out about the man's health. I KNOW it wasn't my fault, and this was corroborated by the witnesses who actually saw him fall, but it still feels awful that it was my car he fell into. The police said it was because he had a head injury that they "ramp up" the degree of response (i.e., the helicopter, ambulances, doctors, police cars, closed roads, etc). On the grounds that they can downgrade the response, but it's more difficult to ramp it up. Terrible business though (shakes head despairingly).

Thank you buggie. I'm wavering in and out of shock, completely dazed and in disbelief and also anger, because he was very obviously drunk (in fact this particular gentleman has approached me and my son before in the barbers on East Dulwich Road and tried to force my son (aged 3) to take ?5 off him (!). So as soon as I saw him on the zebra crossing and how slowly he was moving, I was being ultra, ultra cautious. And a fat lot of good that did either him or me... The adrenaline has mostly subsided now. But I still can't quite believe it happened. If I'd actually been at any fault I guess it would in some ways be easier to take in - but I wasn't. It feels rather like being hit by a meteor, tbh. Completely out of the blue and very unpleasant. :( :( :( :( If I'd not waited to check he'd crossed completely, my car wouldn't have been where it was when he fell over. So many if onlys, but there we are. To cap it all, my children are very distressed at the non appearance of their mother at the usual time/routine, so my evening is panning out very badly. Hence me hiding in the office and typing this, instead of ministering to my kids, who need a bit of tlc, too.