Since losing the majority of my sight there have been a number of deep frustrations with things that I could once do reasonably well and I now can’t do at all.  One of these is recognising people. Often I’m caught on the back foot when someone recognises me and I really have no idea who they are because I can’t see them very well.

I was struck recently when I was with a school leader who used my name a number of times in our passing conversation. This made me feel like he was talking to me and I was the centre of our communication. On reflection, I think this is so important when it comes to developing that sense of belonging in a young person’s life. I have written about belonging before and this is another way that we can develop a skill to make somebody feel like they’re of value.  That said I’m aware that when somebody over uses our name it quite quickly becomes irritating! To get the balance right between it being over used and appropriately used is a fine art, but I think it’s one we should try to develop.