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???
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
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