Beautiful "Disabilities"
Two nights ago I watched The Night Of Too Many Stars, a fundraiser put on by Comedy Central to raise money for autism education. The most touching moment of the entire show was an autistic girl playing the piano and singing with Katy Perry.
The whole time I was watching this little girl, I was struck by how her autism was a strength in this situation. Most other kids her age (or even myself for that matter) would never have the courage to sit on stage with a major super star and perform her song. Being autistic allowed this girl to avoid the traps of social pressure and the fears of social perception. Without second guessing her talent, she got on stage and let the world see her passion for music. As a society we are so concerned with teaching kids to avoid peer pressure, while heavily relying on peer pressure for advertising (but that's a whole different issue). Yet autistic kids who have such a difficult time reading social cues and following our fabricated rules for conduct, have this amazing ability to be themselves. Now I think it's vitally important to have good education and therapy that helps autistic kids learn to communicate and find something they are unabashedly passionate about, like music for Jodi, but there is beauty and strength in their "disability" rather than despite their "disability." Jodi didn't look like a broken person who needed to be fixed. She is a beautiful little girl who loves music and is not bound by social pretexts.
After watching this performance, I felt empowered and hopeful that I was on the road to accepting Wesley's disability as a part of his identity rather than something bad that happened to him that we have to fight against his whole life. I'm definitely not there yet (as I spent last night wallowing in pity wishing I could go back in time), but I'm maybe one step further along in my journey.
We went to a friend's cocktail party recently and got Wes dressed up too for pictures before we left.
The whole time I was watching this little girl, I was struck by how her autism was a strength in this situation. Most other kids her age (or even myself for that matter) would never have the courage to sit on stage with a major super star and perform her song. Being autistic allowed this girl to avoid the traps of social pressure and the fears of social perception. Without second guessing her talent, she got on stage and let the world see her passion for music. As a society we are so concerned with teaching kids to avoid peer pressure, while heavily relying on peer pressure for advertising (but that's a whole different issue). Yet autistic kids who have such a difficult time reading social cues and following our fabricated rules for conduct, have this amazing ability to be themselves. Now I think it's vitally important to have good education and therapy that helps autistic kids learn to communicate and find something they are unabashedly passionate about, like music for Jodi, but there is beauty and strength in their "disability" rather than despite their "disability." Jodi didn't look like a broken person who needed to be fixed. She is a beautiful little girl who loves music and is not bound by social pretexts.
After watching this performance, I felt empowered and hopeful that I was on the road to accepting Wesley's disability as a part of his identity rather than something bad that happened to him that we have to fight against his whole life. I'm definitely not there yet (as I spent last night wallowing in pity wishing I could go back in time), but I'm maybe one step further along in my journey.
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