If I could say something to soon-to-be-parents who have been told their baby has a disability, I’d want to tell them that this isn’t a cause to lose hope. I know that it’s not easy to have a disability and it’s not always easy to watch someone grow up with a disability. However, in some ways I’m proud to have a disability because it’s helped influence me to work harder and I think I’m stronger for that. I also know that life can offer so much to people and that people have a lot of potential no matter what difficulties they might face. Plus, having a disability has helped give me the chance to meet a lot of really wonderful people that I now see as people who I care about . I hope everyone has a support system like that.
I hope when people think about the future, the focus becomes more on what kids can do rather than what they may not be able to do. When I was born and doctors told my parents I had hydrocephalus and that among other things, I might not be educable, my parents refused to believe that and they pushed for me to be educated to the best of my ability. I have a master’s degree now. I hope every parent fights for their child like my parents fought for me to succeed. Even if things are difficult and frustrating I hope that kids never give up on learning either. I think one of the most empowering things to have is an education, whether it’s just about learning to communicate or all the way up to getting advanced degrees. Most of all, I hope people never completely lose sight of how good life can be and that they keep trying to work towards finding the good things life has to offer for them.
I hope people celebrate all the great things their kids can do because to me, every child has the capacity to do something good. The way I see things now, everyone faces difficulties in life in one way or another and yet, people find a way to get through them and to me that is a great thing. I think that ability to keep going is what I love most about humanity. I hope people can grow to see disability as a strength. It takes strength to get through things that are hard and I think people with disabilities (and their families) do have an abundance of strength that gets them through the day. After all, life is too good a thing to give up on.
Finally, I want close this post by saying that I’m forever grateful to my family and especially my parents for always believing that all things were possible for me (and helping me believe that too.) I don’t think I’d be where I am now if I hadn’t had their help. I love them so very much.
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