We tell our children that everyone is different. Everyone is special. Each person has a unique place and purpose in this world. However, we show them that those who possess certain talents, abilities or aesthetics are to be celebrated and lifted above the rest of us. Those talented, beautiful people are truly special. We also show them that those who possess certain personality traits, inabilities, and unsightly features are to be tolerated but not really accepted. Those different, unlovely people are truly insignificant. Most of us fall between these two groups of people, the special and the insignificant. If some of us are blessed with a child that possesses ‘special’ qualities, we burst with pride and excitement at all the future holds for our baby. If some of us are blessed with a child that possesses ‘insignificant’ qualities, we grieve the loss of normalcy and struggle to see any future for that child.
There’s a big social push to take care of those less fortunate in our country today, and I’m glad to see it. But, writing a check or joining a cause isn’t enough to change the way we teach our children to view those less fortunate, those different than us. The quote I used at the top of this post came from an autistic woman who has accomplished more than anyone thought an autistic person could accomplish at that time. She knew she was different, but she also knew that her difference didn’t make her inferior. Now if we could take that same knowledge she had of herself and apply it to our lives in the way we treat others who don’t look, think or act the way we look, think or act, I think we could raise children who truly see that EVERYONE is unique. Everyone is special, and EACH person has a place and a purpose in this world.
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