Curious George: Special Needs Edition!

This is George. George has "special needs."

George lived in a jungle with good hospitals and doctors and specialists. He was a nice little monkey. He was always curious, which pleased his developmental pediatrician.

One day George saw a man with a large yellow straw hat. "I would like to take that monkey home with me," the man thought. He put his hat on the ground. Naturally, George was curious. He picked it up with both hands, fingers grasping the brim, in a miraculous feat of fine-motor skills.

The hat covered George's eyes. The man quickly popped him into a bag. Then he placed George in a boat, and a sailor rowed them both to a big ship, where George had a total meltdown over the roar of the engine. (Sensory issues, you know.)

George promised to be good, but he had some mild behavioral issues as well. On the deck, he spotted some seagulls. He wondered how they flew. With amazing trunk and lower-body control, George pulled himself up to the top of the railing. Oops! Monkey with special needs overboard! The sailors threw him a life preserver. Luckily, his physical therapist had shown him how to hold onto a preserver, even though he hadn't been really good about doing the exercises every day but his mother told his therapist he had.

At last, the trip was over. George and the man with the yellow hat went to the city to the man's house. After a good meal, using adaptive utensils, George conked out.

The next morning, the man went away. George was fascinated by the telephone. He made a call LOOK AT HIM ISOLATING THAT POINTER FINGER! OMG!

Oh, no! George had called The Fire Department! The firemen jumped into their fire engines and zoomed to the house. No fire, only a naughty monkey. They took him away and shut him in prison, where he spent an inordinate amount of time staring at cobwebs and rhythmically tapping his foot.

George vowed to let someone know about the lack of handicap access in the jail. Also, they weren't following his Individualized Education Program (IEP). He wanted out. The watchman came in, and George sped out through the doorway. Wouldn't his physiatrist have been proud!

George came upon a man selling balloons. He wanted the purple one, because purple was his current color obsession. He reached over to help himself, and wasn't quite able to grasp one string, but then he succeeded in grasping all of them and oh! The wind whisked them away!

George held on tight in yet another miraculous feat of fine-motor skills. Finally the wind stopped blowing and down George went, landing in the exact way his physical therapist had modeled for him.

"George!"

It was the man with the big yellow hat! George whipped out his alternative communication device and typed, "DUDE! Where have you been?"

Then the man with the big yellow hat and George got into the car, and off they went to visit the pediatric neurologist. First, though, the man with the big yellow hat had to call the insurance company and argue with them about paying for it. He won, but was warned they wouldn't necessarily cover it the next time.

THE END