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Keri is 13 and her mum has noticed that Keri no longer wants to go to school. She’s very worried about this because Keri loved going to school and was doing well. When she quizzes Keri about it she discovers that Keri is being laughed at because she’s not able to run as fast as her classmates.
Keri’s mother talks with her teacher. The teacher says she’ll be able to stop the bullying but thinks there’s something else going on inside Keri that is making her unhappy.
‘I know,’ Keri’s mother says, ‘she used to be so lively. She was always doing impressions of the singers on the television – and you should see her doing my neighbours and her aunts.’
The teacher has an idea. ‘Why doesn’t she join a youth drama group?’
Keri’s mother isn’t certain about this. But Keri is eager to join. ‘I love drama,’ she says. Keri’s mother is worried that Keri will find it a bit confusing. Keri has Down’s Syndrome which means she is slower to learn things than most young people. Another result of Keri’s Down’s Syndrome is that she has weak hip, knee and ankle joints; this is why she’s slower at running than her classmates. It also means it’s extra difficult for her to keep her balance.
Keri gets on well with the young people in the drama group. When they’re making up plays she’s particularly good at coming up with funny lines. The group is preparing to perform a play called WE KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. However, Keri tells her best friend at the group, Sophie, she doesn’t want to be in it. Sophie finds out it’s because Keri thinks she’s too fat.
‘People like me put on weight easily,’ she tells Sophie.
‘For a start, then,' says Sophie, who’s good at sorting things out, ‘you should stop eating so many crisps. Perhaps you need to think about more healthy eating – we’ve been doing it at school. And what’s this physio stuff you were telling me about? And you know you really want to be in the play. You’ve got some great lines.’
Keri really does want to be in the play. With her mum she gets advice from a
Dietitian
on a more healthy diet.
Keri has to see a
Physiotherapist
once a week. ‘It’s because my joints will get tight,’ she tells Sophie. ‘That’s why I do physio stuff every week. And I have special things to do for muscle tone.’
‘What’s muscle tone?’ Sophie asks.
‘Come and see,’ she tells Sophie.
Sophie goes along to one of Keri’s physiotherapy sessions. She tries out some of the exercises; Keri’s better than Sophie at some of them.
Over the period when they’re rehearsing for their show, Keri loses quite a lot of weight. Everybody can see that Keri is really getting into the swing of things. One day she comes in wearing a new pair of trainers; ‘I thought I’d wear these in the play,’ she says. The trainers are bright pink and everyone thinks they’re just the thing for the play. Sophie thinks they’re ‘cool’ and would quite like a pair.
‘Sorry, Soph,’ Keri tells her, ‘my
Orthotist
made them just for me.’ Keri shows Sophie the special insoles inside her trainers, which support her feet and help her to walk better.
‘Cool, Kez,’ Sophie says.
‘And I can run about, now, in the burglar scene,’ Keri says. ‘And the week the play’s on, I’ve made a special appointment with my
Podiatrist
to make sure my feet are OK. I only usually see her once a month. She said she’ll come and see the play.’
‘What’s a Podiatrist?’ Sophie asks.
WE KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON is a great success. In one scene Keri is caught in a house by a burglar, uses pepper so he can’t see for sneezing, trips him up with a dog bowl and pours a jug of water over him before sitting on him while she dials 999 on her mobile. This is one of the show’s high spots and she gets lots of applause.
Her mum asks if she’s still being bullied at school. ‘You seem a lot happier,’ she says.
‘I don’t care so much, now,’ Keri says. ‘They might run faster than me, but I’m a star.’
 Which AHPs help Keri?
Dietitian
Physiotherapist
Orthotist
Podiatrist
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Keri is being made fun of; how does she deal with this? 
