Today there were a lot of volunteers at the orphanage, and I almost decided not to pull out the activities. Many of the kids I usually work with were already playing with someone, and I didn't want to take them away from the volunteers to work. Not that I would make them work, but, I'm finding that the kids willingly leave "play" to come work at the table if activities are available.
Of course, there are always a few who are left in bed. As usual, Ervin was still in his crib when I came, and screamed as soon as he saw me, asking for attention. So, with a lot of help from him, I managed to get him into his wheelchair and we found a quiet corner in a fenced off area of the courtyard to work.
Today we worked on following directions, and not just doing things the way he wants to. Of all the kids, I think I've seen Ervin progress the most in this area. Of course, he didn't want to stop when his turn working with me was over, but he did find a new volunteer to "pester" for a while while I worked with Heidi.
The area we were in is gated, and eventually Ervin found his way back over to us, and figured out how to open the gate and come in. I thought about stopping him, but thought this would be a good time to see what two kids who usually won't share will do with only one activity.
Heidi didn't like the idea at all, and her shreeks of complaint let everybody within a mile know it. Ervin, on the other hand, got into a "helping" role, and would hand cubes to Heidi for her to put into a container. This may not seem like a big deal, but for Ervin to be willing to give away these cubes he loves to work with, and for Heidi to be willing to take them from him, rather than from the table, was a huge event to me. I can't hardly look at the picture of them doing this without getting tears in my eyes.
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