I’m currently sitting in a tiny darkened room watching my son through a one way mirror.
I recently stumbled across a wonderful opportunity and enrolled him in a research study to learn more about his dyslexia, sensory issues, and autism.
He’s chatty and curious as always but I can’t help but wonder what the neuropsychologist sees when she studies him through her professional lens.
Does she see what I see?
Does she see the kindness that is in his heart?
Does she appreciate how inquisitive he is?
Can she even imagine how far he has come from the days of early intervention when we had to work so hard to get this little chatterbox to learn to use his finger to point to something he wanted because he lacked the words to ask for it?
Does she see a child who can now draw intricate pictures with flawless details after years of not being able to even hold a pencil?
Guess what?
It doesn’t matter what she sees because I know what I see.
I see a smart, hard working little boy who tries his best to impress his teachers.
I see a little boy who thinks in three dimensional layers and can construct just about anything he can imagine out of Lego.
I see a little boy who fascinates me with the way his mind works to solve math problems using his own unique method.
I see a little boy who loves with his whole heart and trusts other implicitly.
I see a little boy with a brilliant imagination.
I see a little boy with a great sense of humor who loves to tell jokes and delivers a killer punch line.
I’m hoping to learn new ways to help my son succeed in school and in life by incorporating the results of this testing.
My son is only concerned with how many toys he will be able to buy, as he gets paid twelve dollars for each hour he is there ( bribery- the universal motivator).
When all of the testing is completed, I will receive a customized report about all of the ways he is different, ways in which he doesn’t measure up to his peers, the “neuro-typical” kids.
When we first started on this path of being “differently abled” seeing the final evaluation in black and white
would have broken my spirit for weeks.
Today, however, all I see is how far we have come and how much further we will go together.
Today, I understand that different does not ever mean less, because without “different” in this world, we wouldn’t have the medical, technological, or architectural advances that we have today.
I know that no human being, regardless of how many letters they have after their name to distinguish their educational level, will EVER predict what my son will accomplish in his life.
I’ve learned that my child will transcend any label attached to him.
I’ve learned that those labels are just a means to an end, a way of securing school based services to help him soar into his future filled with limitless possibilities.
I know that the most important opinion of all is the one that my son has of himself.
HE thinks he’s awesome.
HE thinks he’s smart.
HE KNOWS he is loved unconditionally.
And you know what?…
He’s absolutely right.
