Hilary writes off-beat articles with the driving instructor in mind.

Watching The Paralympics, recently, reminded me of my first disabled pupil: on returning from the course at Banstead Mobility Centre on Teaching The Disabled, I’d no sooner put an advert’ in my local Post Office, proudly proclaiming my new qualification, when I returned home to find the ‘phone ringing.

Sure enough…Could you teach my son David. He has spina bifida?.

The fear (adrenaline) was probably similar to that felt by those athletes posed bravely at the pool side waiting for the whistle that would allow them to get headfirst into the pool.

Why fear?…well…I didn't want to let the guy down. OK…so I’d done the course…but that doesn’t mean you can teach!

There was no going back now, though. I’d put the advert out and would just have to get on with it.

‘No problem at all’ …I sounded calm, at any rate.

David and I hit it off straight away. I mercilessly took the mickey out of his taste in music ( Kylie Minogue ). Oh, now…come on.

He mercilessly took the mickey out of mine ( The Boo Radleys). OK…so we all make mistakes.

Apart form a rather wandering eye for a passing aeroplane ( ha! you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you?) David had a quite sound traffic sense and anticipation.

So far so good; however hydrocephalus is not uncommon with spina bifida and this causes the pupil’s concentration to shorten. Being new to this, on the day of the test I automatically booked him in for an hour before. I then sat and watched from the back, whereupon I saw Dave - eyes drooping - slow down for a marked crossroads…Arggggh!…a not untypical response of tiredness if ever I saw one.

Doh! how could I? Surely, I should have known not to do a full hour before the test?!

Have you ever wanted to shoot yourself in the back of a car?

Needless to say, with the next test…straight in to the car and off to the T.C. Result…

Pass!

I wasn’t going to let him down a second time.

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