Celebrate the Uncelebrated
Emily Sutton
I was launched into the world of special needs on New Year's Eve 2012, on the birth of my son, Jenson. He is fabulous, sprightly and loving, and ha...
May we celebrate the children who see the things that we don’t see. Who hear the sounds that are silent to us. Who touch the things that we will not. Who speak the words that we dare not.
Follow the child that explores the world without legs. Watch the world through the eyes of the child who cannot see. Talk to the child who has no voice. Learn from the child who cannot be taught.
Let us follow the children who seek out the rain and the gales, the storms and showers. Who find joy in the crunch of icy grass and in the clamour of hailstones on rooftops.
Let us not feel self-conscious of our children who prefer the park gate to the swing or slide. Who favour wildlife over humans. Who choose to run but won’t walk, who will bounce but won’t sit.
Encourage the ones that care not for toys, but who make their own play
Who delight in tipping cereals onto the floor but won’t eat them from a bowl.
Let those children show us how to discover the world through their own eyes and not through the filters we wear. Let them teach us that beauty is found in the fire in our eyes, not in the make-up that surrounds them.
Embrace the child that wears wellies in the summer and flip-flops in the snow. Who listens to Christmas songs in July and still believes in the magic of Santa at the age of 14.
Let us acknowledge that teacher who measures a child’s success by their smiles, and measures their strength by their spirit. Let that teacher teach us all.
Let us not recoil from the child whose grasp is too firm, whose kiss is too wet, whose voice is too loud.
Congratulate the children who sing but may never talk; who swim but may never walk.
May we take the weird out of weird. Make the alien into acceptable. Change the odd into enigmatic. Take those children and hail them. Share them with the children of today who will become the adults of tomorrow.
Celebrate the uncelebrated.