One of the things I've noticed about having a child with autism is the perspective it tends to give you. You focus on the positives, the little things - the small victories of daily life. Recently, I was in an airport and had the misfortune of observing a mother with a five year old girl. The mother was "reading" with her daughter, but she was incredibly nasty to her. I heard things like, "I just told you that word", "You've got to do better", "Finally - thank you for getting it right". The mother was rolling her eyes and very obviously angry. The little girl was crying because, surprise, this was not much fun for her. It took some self-control for me to not rebuke this person for being so unsupportive to her daughter. I felt badly for the little girl because if this is the kind of person her mother is, she's going to need a lot of counselling.
At least this kid is trying to read. At least she is talking. Does it matter how quickly she is picking it up? Make it fun for her and she'll learn it. Man, what a witch.
HAHAHA
ReplyDeleteI can be a witch sometimes. The other day Khaled was going round the house going "Why'd you do that, stoopay" - obviously a script he has picked up from me.
But I know what you mean. If only people knew how blessed they are with able children, they would appreciate their efforts more. I did another preschool visit today, oh man, its infuriating how often creativity and abstract thinking or intelligent remarks by kids are totally ignored or even discouraged because it wasn't in the program that the teacher had planned for the day - like be mindful and pay attention, there is an opportunity to enjoy the learning process too!
That woman has witnessed thousands and thousands of little miracles of development, and managed to miss every single one of them. :(
ReplyDelete