scribblechic

When my son was seven, he gifted me a moment of insight that guides me as his mother.  With wisdom and self-awareness beyond his years, he said to me:  I know that I’m different and I like who I am, but I don’t like it when other people make me feel different. This moment wakes with me each day.

His sharing came during a difficult time.  A year into a diagnosis that had begun to help my husband and I better understand our son’s various behaviors and needs, we were finding our footing while our son was struggling to find his.  Social challenges made school days difficult, our son navigated the expectations of his teachers as mindfully as he absorbed the weight of unkind jests by his peers.  Our son was looking for belonging and acceptance without conformity.

In moments of adversity I frequently return to a personal truth, special needs are extraordinarily normal.  Virtues like patience, kindness, and tolerance should not be reserved for special conditions or occasions, they should be the standard by which we live every day.  From this place we are all equal and anything is possible, our differences as normal as our needs.

Tagged: Children, Compassion, Special Needs, Tolerance