Opening up my world to a wider range of difference in others has meant that there’s more room for me to be me. It’s easier for me to accept and even love myself and all my differences when I get the chance to know and love others for theirs. When everyone belongs, I belong too.
Tag Archives: inclusion
Secret hand gestures
It’s in moments like this that I wish there was a secret hand gesture
, a high-five or a thumbs up, that would let that other person know: “Hey, I’ve been there. I see you. You’re doing a great job. If you need a hand, let me know.”
The Birthday Girl Gives Everyone Else a Gift
This Saturday my son and daughter went to a birthday party of a very close friend, let’s call her the Birthday Girl, who recently moved to another town. Though the Birthday Girl’s older sister has been acutely aware of my son’s developmental differences for the past few years – I wrote about out a wonderful …
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Open Arms
I’ve had another one of those experiences that are so complicated that it’s not easily digesting itself into a post. But it was too good not to share: There are a lot of spectrums in the special needs world. One of them is the spectrum of embracing folks with disabilities in one’s everyday community. The …
No Pity, part 1
I bring along my son, who attends a special education school many miles away, when I pick up my daughter at her neighborhood school’s after-school program. Since he started attending the far-far-away school a year ago, the ties that bind him to our neighborhood are snapping, one by one. Granted, they were never strong, as …
It’s complicated
I am having a really hard time figuring out what to make of my son’s soccer practice this past Saturday. Can you help me figure it out? As part of our town’s recreation department’s efforts to create recreation opportunities for kids with special needs, they’ve started an adaptive soccer league. High school varsity and JV …
“Let there be peace, welfare and righteousness”
Reflecting on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s contribution to peace thought I’d share a blessing by Hagen Hasselbalch which I found in Earth Prayers. It so beautifully captures the open-armed ambitions of the peace movement inspired by folks like Dr. King: the desire for justice, for access, for respect for each other and the earth. Let …
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No big whoop?
The special needs blogosphere and social media outlets are abuzz about this recent Target ad featuring a boy with Down Syndrome. This kid is cute. Really cute. It’s great to see him there. The big news isn’t the fact that he’s in the shot; what people seem to be focusing on is the fact that …