Back in late August, I heard of a story involving a child with special
needs. It was about an anonymous note that was sent from "one pissed off
mother" to a family who has a child with Autism. The letter was filled
with words that were offensive, hurtful and just plain mean. Parts of
it read, "I HATE people like you who believe, just because you have a
special needs kid, you are entitled to special treatment!" Another
line, "go live in a trailer in the woods or something with your wild
animal kid." Wow, when I read that, it made me really sad, first of all
that a mom could have that much disdain for a child (and his family)
and secondly, to take the time to write all that nasty stuff down and
then send it? I find it even more sad to think that this is what the
"pissed off mother" is teaching her own children - that it's okay to not
have tolerance for others just because they look or act different.
Well, I have a news flash for the "pissed off mother" - the world isn't
like that!! Wouldn't it be a really boring world if it was??? The mom
who got that anonymous letter was shaken and upset and rightfully so.
She responded to the hate filled letter on a really great special needs
blog - here is the link to it - http://www.lovethatmax.com/2013/08/the-moms-response-to-that-shocking.html
. In early September, I heard about another anonymous note that was
left for a family whose son has epilepsy and has had three major brain
surgeries. The family had gone out to eat and as they were waiting for
their meal, their son started to get loud. The mom was getting concerned
that the other diners might start getting upset. Instead, the waitress
came over and said that a mystery diner had paid for their meal and had
written on their bill, "God only gives special children to special
people." There is just one word that comes to mind when I read that
sentence - compassion! Wow, I think this mystery diner could teach the
"pissed off mother" a thing or two, don't you think???
We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...
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