Stop Measuring Their Lives By The ‘Nevers’
After my son was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism at age three, I was told all of the things he would most likely never do.
Live independently and so on.
As if the people around us, the ones there to help us, knew his future.
It felt crushing.
We never gave up on our son.
Yes, we pivoted. Yes, we accepted his limitations. But we never stopped believing in him and encouraging him where we could.
I was told he would never learn to write. So I pivoted. We focused on typing.
Oh the hours I’ve spent moving his little fingers from letter to letter.
I knew he could do it. And one day it clicked.
My kid can type his Christmas list and birthday list on a whim.
But writing, well, I moved on from that one years ago.
So you can imagine my shock and surprise when last night I asked him to write independently…and he did.
Mom.
No help. No guides. No hand holding.
I gasped. I cried tears of joy.
And the smile on his face.
Like duh lady…
These kids.
We have to stop measuring their lives by the ‘nevers.’
And even more important, the world needs to stop writing their stories for them.
