Children with disabilities are children first, and children with disabilities farther down the line. Sometimes amidst the therapy sessions, doctor appointments, challenges and frustrations this simple truth is overlooked…even by us as their parents. I so don’t like when that happens.
Just remember…we don’t have to look very far to be reminded. Look, really look, at your child. Focus on your child’s abilities which, if you are looking in all the right places, far out number any disabilities. Often it is we who put the limits on our children. It is we who say “can’t”.
Resist speaking the words “you can’t do that”. Many times things which we believe to be beyond our child’s reach are accomplished through desire and perseverance. Clearly Lantz Lamback’s parents never said “you can’t do that”.
Lantz lives with cerebral palsy, and when I met him a couple of weeks ago, it was like watching a grown-up image of my son, Wil, who lives with CP. They have the same body build, the same stride, and gestures. Lantz is a competitive swimmer and gold medal Olympian. Wil wants to be a competitive swimmer, and is fortunate to be learning under the same instructor who first worked with Lantz.
Imagine Wil’s thrill in meeting Lantz and touching his Olympic gold medal…imagine what Wil imagines.
Wil, pictured above with Lantz Lamback who is the…
2008 Paralympic Gold Medalist & World Record Holder in 100m Backstroke
2008 Silver Medalist in 100m Freestyle
2008 Silver Medalist in 400m Freestyle
2008 Bronze Medalist in 50m Freestyle
and 2004 double Bronze Medalist
Don’t pressure your child to do more than he can do, but never expect him to do less than he can do. And never tell him “you can’t do that” if you’ve never given him a chance to try…because a chance is the gift that gives.
Melody can be found at 5M4SN every Tuesday; hosting Special Exposure Wednesday; and sharing her love of photography the second and fourth Saturdays each month in her column, Photographing Your Children. You will also find her at Slurping Life sharing photos and a few words from her special life.