I couldn't make the Monday, which was a shame but on the Tues I got to listen to lots of research that is going on around Europe, particularly on social skills development. Lots to do there.
TBH, and I'm not just saying this, the most moving talks were the ones that I believe Moondog was involved in. Perhaps they were interesting to me because they were the most closely aligned to my interests i.e. having a young child with difficulties but I think it was more than that.
What struck me more than anything about the presenters, was that their work was so much more than research. These people truly, genuinely cared, and they cared about that ONE child that they happened to be talking about or working with at that time, as if they had given birth to them themselves. And that child or children were at the heart of their work and the centre of their thoughts when they were working with them.
I cannot stress how strongly that came across.
When you're used to platitudes and fobb offs and circular meetings held by people who tell you that they have your child's best interests at heart, without having ever met them, and who imply that you are asking for the moon simply by asking for something tangible ocassionally, it can make you quite hysterical to learn that the people out there that are NOT like that are more than a hope, myth or ideal and they are really working with live children.