"Hit The Building"

Y'all can't say you haven't been warned: STAY THE HELL OFF THE SIDEWALKS! Charlie got his learner's permit yesterday morning, so it's just not safe to be out there any more.

He tried about a month ago, and was crushed when he failed it the first time. He was very quiet as we got into the car, so I stayed quiet while I was driving so he could lick his wounds without interference (especially since I got lost on the way home from MVA and was trying to figure out where I was). I didn't realize that my silence was killing him until he blurted out, "You're mad that I failed, aren't you?" Oh, heavens, child--no!!

He felt slightly better when he found out his big brother had also failed it the first time, but that was still cold comfort. Charlie isn't used to failing at anything. He only missed by one question, but that's still one too many.

Personally, I think it did him good to miss it the first time. He's so good at so many things, that he is starting to think life is his bowl of cherries and he gets a little big-headed at times. This humbled him a little.

We did some more studying and testing, and got another appointment set up with MVA. This time he only missed two questions, which is a pass. But get this: The deaf guy misses the question on HAND SIGNALS!!! What's up with THAT???

While we were waiting for the test to be graded, he was so nervous he was just about biting his nails, and when he explained to the interpreter that he had already failed it once, she told him, "Oh, that's nothing--most of the deaf I interpret for these tests fail it four, five, or six times before they finally get it!" All of a sudden, he's thinking getting it right on the second shot isn't so bad, after all.

I think a big part of that problem is that most of the deaf kids grow up in homes where the parents either don't sign at all, or have very limited sign, so the kids get their driver's training in classroom situations and don't have a lot of help at home in the studying and sample testing. Charlie all but slept with that stupid driver's handbook, nagging at me every day that he was home to go over it with him. Over and over and over and over and over again. And the MVA has sample testing on the web that I would interpret for him over and over and over and over again. (It changes the questions a little each time.) So he had a lot more in-depth understanding and practice for that test than most deaf kids have by the time they get to MVA.

Anyway, tonight was his first lesson. I took him out to an industrial park and let him do some stop-n-go work. Then I decided he should learn where the front and back of the car are. (I drive a station wagon.) You should have seen his face when I had him approach the concrete wall of one of the truck bays and told him to hit the building. I've never seen such a look of shock on his face. I ended up demonstrating for him how I wanted him to keep backing up slowly, bit by bit, until the car touched the building, so he could see and feel how much space he had to work with. Then I made him do it over and over again (both forwards and backwards) until he was able to stop within a few inches of the wall without touching it. I think he did a pretty good job.

Curbs, not so much. But it was starting to get dark, and we were both hungry and tired, so it was time to call it quits. There'll be more time this weekend and many, many weekends to come to practice some more.

Be careful out there!!!