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Extract from a letter from Tamar’s mother
In the beginning when Dekel told us of the idea that parents and
children join in outings into the community, I felt a slight resistance to
the idea. I felt so familiar, almost addicted to the meetings with the
other parents during the times that our children were involved in
activities in the fitness center. The idea to give up on this, even for one
meeting, seemed too large to contemplate. I felt unwilling to disconnect
from the warm and safe nest of the special supportive group which had
become a precious asset in my life.
I was also worried as to how my daughter Tamar would react to taking
walks outdoors as Tamar has very heightened auditory sensitivity to
hooting cars and sometimes reacts with anger and outbursts.
The second outing was in the same spirit as the first, but more
organized. The guys and girls wore T-shirts bought for the group with the
help of a donation, and looked, in every respect, like a sporting team.
The atmosphere was as good as the first time- even better, and the
excitement and joy of the young people, the trainer and the volunteers
spread from one participant to the other, and allowed Tamar once again
to stand up to the difficulties with courage. This time there was loud
hooting from the cars on the road. Tamar responded to this verbally and
encouraged herself to overcome the noise and to confront it, and indeed
succeeded to the very end of the activity.
It turned out that walking in a group is a completely different experience
to walking alone or in pairs. I believe that the strength of the group is
really what helped Tamar to overcome her problems with less difficulty,
and that the experience was stronger than I had expected, both on the
level of enjoyment and excitement that the two of us experienced , and
also as an experience of success that was important for Tamar.
Tamar’s mother