I Saw You Judge Us
I saw you. We got in line behind you at one of the snack stands.
You had three kids and another adult with you. Your kids were calm. Patient. Quiet. Speaking politely.
I saw you.
I saw the look on your face change from smiles to annoyance as my three year old began to get very active…trying to run.
I saw you.
I saw you roll your eyes as his meltdown started.
I saw the nasty look you shot our way before muttering something to your companion. I saw the look. You know the one.
The one that people get when they are judging another parent. The one where you are judging a child you don’t even know.
The one that says, “Look how bad that child is. He needs discipline.”
THAT look.
Yes, I saw you.
But you didn’t “see” my child happily feeding giraffes.
You didn’t see my child loving his very first carousel ride.
You didn’t see the joy on my child’s face as he rode the miniature train.
You didn’t see how hard he tried to cope with the crowds.
You didn’t see how he struggled with waiting in line.
You didn’t see that he was trying his best today.
You didn’t see me and how proud I was of him.
You didn’t see me snapping pictures of him as he played on the slide. Or looked at the dinosaur exhibit.
You didn’t see us trying to keep his meltdowns at bay.
You didn’t see the disabled tag on his wagon. Or his SMOs that help keep him from walking on his toes and from over pronating.
The SMOs that keep him from falling every few feet and allow him to run, jump, and play with more stability.
What you didn’t see or know or think? You didn’t know that my child has Autism.
You didn’t see the hours of therapy he has done. You didn’t see that the zoo is his happy place.
You didn’t see HIM.
Next time you are in public and see a child struggling, don’t be so quick to judge. Because a snapshot in time doesn’t allow you to “see” the whole picture. Be kind.
Written by, Angel Smith
I’m a mom of three. My youngest, Fox, has autism. We live in Georgia and our blog is The Autistic Fox which can be found at http://theautisticfoxblog.wordpress.com/ and on Instagram.
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