Extreme clowning: July 2012

Jimmy gets a great deal from touch

this is not always the case with every blind person.

Jimmy can feel things for ages and remember what he has felt

he will also ask questions about what he is feeling as he is feeling it.

what its made of, colour, whats it for etc

Toys can be a fantastic source of information but not always practical due to size

this will limit what information can be obtained from the toy itself

But once again it depends on the deafblind person

Jimmy used to feel toy animals and then use that memory to replicate them in clay

remembering proportion and structure and features

all of which was obtained from the toy originally

costumes are fantastic as they encourage a similar process but contain much more information and

due to the size it is more accessable.

they also allow an element of realism as the can feel how they are worn, what they are made of

if they feel scary, if they are comfortable or not and most of all they back up that it is just a person dressed up and not real in any way

most of the costumes below jimmy has no idea about the films/tv

he just enjoys feeling the costumes and learning about new things like monsters and robots

( or robits as jimmy calls them )

Jimmy knows they are not real, and he also knows there are people inside dressed up, he also knows that children think they are real, that is why the person is hidden

This was a magic moment, Jimmy had never ever quite felt anything like this before
the lady inside was amazing and very patient (and very hot i assume!)

Jimmy has some recollection of batman from his childhood - but not a great deal

Star wars is something i mentioned to jimmy when i first started working with him

I found it very sad that he knew nothing about this amazing saga so what i have done is just introduced him to the different characters, i think the story may confuse him

se we have just stuck to goodies and baddies and robots and monsters

( which he new nothing about until starwars)

Alex on the other hand is an avid star wars fan and knows the storys inside and out but knows very little about the appearance of the characters

Alix also likes toys but does not really get a great deal out of them information wise, costumes and larger props are a much better source of information for him

This was amazing - Alex had no idea han was in a block and also why is he screaming if he was frozen ?
me and you know that there was an element of heat (thats why han was screaming in pain) but that was never mentioned just shown - so when Alex listens to the films that information would have slipped passed him

Feeling a real pod racer

Once again something Jimmy had no recollection of from his childhood

He knew of Thomas from a friends little boy who used to have thomas toys

It was really great to be able to feel a full size version

Once again - no recollection from childhood
So i breifly mentioned a man in a magic box who can fly back and foward in time
and more goodies and baddies and monsters and robits

Typical!

Once again i was told "this is you"

He really loved the blink angels

This moment will haunt me for ever
"you are a fat pig"

Its very interesting to introduce jimmy to things like this and find out his opinion
and see what he likes and what he finds scary
and i also think its good to let him know how popular things like this are
and that children really like them
this keeps him up to date with the times

Out of all of the things that we felt that day
can you believe that Jimmy's favorite was the Face of bo!
the least tactile out of all of them

A big floaty head in a fish tank!

Kemmy is a huge Dr Who fan
and was amazed at the updated version of the cyberman - it was very different to what he remembers

Jimmy loves shows
and this was appearing locally
(as i had auditioned, i was offerd the part of mushnik but turned it down as i wanted the dentist!)
we managed to get a touch tour before the show of all 4/5 stages of the plant which was fantastic
this really helped a great deal

the story itself was very simple it would have only been the plant that may have caused confusuion, but as he got to feel that before the show he could picture it in his head as we went along

small Audrey 2 - hand puppet in a tin

Medium size Audrey 2 in the background

Full size audrey 2 - big enough for jimmy to fall into her mouth!

potted Audrey 2 with false arm

this was great
as jimmy could feel my arm working it and then feel the false arm
and i would explain that having the false arm there people would think the plant is real, because it would move

Mechanical moving vines

This was a great show for Jimmy as he learnt a lot from it
it contained a lot of messages about people and being who you are

he also got to feel the puppets and see how they worked
they even demonstrated them having se for him!

Not only did we get to feel the puppets but also props and sets - this was so fantastic as Jimmy know had an idea of the scale of everything

When penny used to watch Wrestling many years ago it used to be leotards
but its moved on since then

here we are feeling the wrestlers clothes and pads and masks

He we are at WWE Nottingham arena feeling one of the masks from rey mysterio!

Jimmy loves panto and this is something he never did before we came along
the shows and characters are always fun and very simple to follow
and there is often water and mess - and a lot of joining in

The local theatre the key are fantastic and for many years hang around after the show and let jimmy meet characters and feel costumes

Wow!
this was a such a memorable moment
Jimmy loves my elmo toys - and so this was an ideal opportunity for him to discover the rest of the gang
we was taken onto the stage 20 minutes before the show and they was all there waiting for us
it was a bit rushed but what an amazing experience
Jimmy was overwhelmed!

We went ot london to see a show with a service user and while we was there they had a huge event on in Leicester square
I was aware that there was going to be some Dr who displays and i figured that dennis was able to see in his younger days so we tried to tell him about dr being in london - but there was no reaction at all
we triend for at least an hour, re phrazing words and trying to use props to help explain but it just wasnt sinking in

The minute we got there we found the Dr who tent and i put dennis's hand straight onto a dalek - and straight away he signed Dr Who!
it is amazing how iconic props and costumes can be
he rememberd straight away just by feeling the daleks plunger!
yet on the train he just did not understand