Mind and Body

After a busy day in the office, tonight I (Chris) was leading the green group runners at the club. Another chilly evening and consequently a smaller group but it was a good run despite the temperature, 6.13 miles with an average pace just over the 9 minute mile mark.

I (Annie) have had Ofsted in again to do an inspection on the school where I'm a governor. It feels like you're a naughty child going to the headmaster's office when you go in to talk to them.

This evening I had one of those evenings that changes the way you think - an "oh my god - I'd not thought of it that way" moment. Paul Isaacs came to the school to talk about his experience of living with Autism. It was a truly fascinating 2 hours - he was interesting, funny and so enlightening.

The moment that really bowled me over was when he said that although he was able to talk coherently and fluently (as we were hearing), the way he could talk didn't reflect how he took information in. Instead, when people spoke to him they needed to do it in short bursts with straightforward language so that he could process it. It bowled me over, as it had never occurred to me before that the way you use language may not reflect the way language is taken in. A real "wow" moment for me - and the whole evening has hopefully given me a better insight into how to do the best for some of our pupils.

Today's blip is a view of the final section of the Aylesbury arm of the Grand Union canal.