III
After a few days of picking up and dropping off patients, some conversation was beginning to occur and I was beginning to pick up on some of their traits. One evening, after they had all loaded and I had checked to make sure they all had their seat belts on, I turned in my seat and addressed them.
I said, “Would any one like to sit in front with me?”
It was quite oblivious that they were interested, so I continued, “We will take turns and the one in front is not to talk, but is to help me drive. When you see a stop light turn red, you will raise your hand for me to stop. When the light turns green, you will move your finger forward to let me know it is alright to go. When we go by streets that have cars coming down them, you are to point at the cars so I will be careful.”
I was talking to them as though they were children. Later I would find out more about their abilities as each had different afflictions. Only one was able to read or study and probably at about the 4th grade level. Their ages ranged for middle 30s to past 65. I gathered that many had had their parents take care of them until the parents became unable to continue that responsibility.
One of the first to take his place up front helping me to drive was a man well into his 60,s. He would sit in the passenger seat and use his hand and finger to help me drive. Sometimes I had to hide the urge to smile as from outward experiences, he seemed to be a normal older gentleman with child like actions and they didn’t quite jibe. With a rotation twice a day, each rider would have a chance to be up front at least once a week.
Although I told them that I expected them to “not talk”, I would engage in conversation with them and I would ask him a question or make a comment about some happening on occasion. He would barely reply if at all. One day, he pointed over to a little suburb as we passed and said, “I lived in one house over there for 64 years.”
We never had a long conversation, but from that day on, I would have some response on a regular basic from him.
I tried to talk to and treat each as a person and even though their IQ may not have been very high, we still had some interesting conversations. One day when we were getting ready to leave for our trip taking them home, I happened to look at the small lady sitting in the middle of the seat right behind the drivers seat. She had Downs’ Syndrome and could have been maybe 50 along with a very small stature. I had been told that she was deaf and could not hear me and as she never needed any prompting, I had no reason to believe otherwise. I had not included her in my rotation of help drivers, Yet she sat there studying my every move and seemed to hear word.
I said, “Would you like to drive?”
Her eyes lit up and she shook her head rapidly up and down and so I put her in the rotation. From the first day as my assistant driver, she knew exactly what to do raising her hand to stop and signaling me to go. Her concentration was totally on her job. I will never forget that look on her face when I asked her if she wanted to help drive, more so, I wonder how many times we over look some one because they are small or quiet or we have been told something about them, in the process not only depriving them of the pleasure of helping, but depriving us of skills never to be used.
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