10/5/17 – Duration 2 hours

Our goals for today – To get more comfortable with Roundabouts

We discussed Annie’s goals for today, where she was with rbts, what she was good at and what did she feel was getting in the way of her being comfortable at rbts?

Annie didn’t know.

‘Ok how about we just go for a drive, take in a few rbts and you can get a feel for what’s getting in your way?’

‘Sounds good’

We decided who would be responsible for doing what, and for how long & off we went. About 15 mins later we pulled over.

‘So any thoughts about what’s getting in the way of being comfortable?’

‘Looking in my mirrors’

‘Great, can you tell me a little bit more?’

‘I look in my mirrors to see what’s happening behind me, then when I look to the front I forget to indicate. All the things I need to do are there, I just need to do it all the time’

‘What would help you to do it all the time?’

‘I don’t know, cause if I did I’d do it (fair point!) Maybe I need to relax a bit & stop panicking. I need to think, this is what I need to do and just do it. I’m getting better. The last run was better than last week.’

(These last comments from Annie really pleased me. It’s the most descriptive she’s been, and I thought her self reflection was excellent. Really pleased for Annie)

‘That’s great Annie. Can you describe what the overriding emotion is that’s stopping you relaxing?’

‘Anxious’

‘Brilliant, Anxious about what in particular?’

‘That I wont be able to do what I’m meant to do’

She was anxious about getting ‘things wrong’ again! I sensed Annie needed some positivity at this point.

‘Well lets look at what you CAN do’

‘Well, I know it’

‘How come?’

‘Cause you taught me to do it & understand it’

Hmm, I didn’t entirely agree. I think Annie has taught herself a hell of a lot of things that has helped her understanding…but I didn’t think it was the best time for that chat. I felt we were getting somewhere and wanted to keep her on track.

‘So do you want to go back to me talking you through rbts?’

‘Yes’

I was starting to feel guilty. Maybe I had inadvertently pushed her too fast.

‘All of it? Have we moved too fast for you?

‘No I don’t think so. Having the responsibility makes me scared that’s all’

That last statement was really important for Annie & really helped my understanding of her.

‘Scared of what?’

‘In case I get it wrong. It’s annoying. You want to be able to do things.’

Annie clicked her fingers! Her eyes widened! Something had happened inside her head. I waited with baited breath.

‘It’s other cars!!’

‘What is?’

‘I don’t know what they’re doing!’

‘How come?’

‘I’m just not used to them I guess’

‘So how can I help you with that?’

‘Not sure’

‘I have an idea then. How about as we get up to the rbt I tell you where I think the cars are going?’

‘Yeah that’ll be so helpful. I know I can do this if there were no other cars around’

‘So driving at 3 in the morning how would you feel about rbts?’

‘They’ll be easy’

We quickly decided that I would use car colours to help her identify which one I was talking about and point if necessary. Annie also decided she wanted to do the route we had just done but the opposite way round.

Off we went. I kept to my part of the deal and tried to be as precise as possible, it wasn’t easy! At the same time I was trying to keep an eye on Annie & she seemed to be sitting a bit more comfortably as we approached, and this showed in her facial muscles as well. Had we found what was making Annie anxious at rbts? We pulled over.

How do you feel?’

‘Better’

‘Why’

‘Cause I know where the cars are going’

‘That’s fantastic Annie, and how does that make you feel better?’

‘Because I’m more confident I’m getting it right’

Annie seemed more chirpy.

I felt this was a good time to revisit what we finished with last week.

‘Yeah getting things right makes me feel good too. Just to go back to last lesson, did you get a chance to think about what getting things right means to you?’

Annie told me what it means to her, but she asked me not to write it in the blog in case any of her friends read it. Sorry people! It wasn’t anything that unusual, but it was just personal to Annie.

We got out the car and walked up to a rbt. Annie wanted to get a better understanding of where cars were going. We discussed where we needed to look for our ‘shields’ and what clues to pick up about the cars that would tell us where they were going. We went for another drive for Annie to work on this on the move, so Annie took responsibility for working out where cars were going.

Annie seemed to be happier. She needed help a couple of times but she looked more confident with the added responsibility.

At the end we discussed what she had done well. She felt rbts had got better because she had more responsibility (wow what a change!) She felt she was nearly there with them. Next lesson she would hope to feel good about them. She also wanted to start thinking about ped xing’s. So I set Annie a little ‘voluntary research!’….to tell me about 6 different crossings and what is unique about each one.

Lets see how she gets on………