Three Happy Tales of Community Acceptance

Last week, at the prompting of a reader who suggested, "There are good people out there, you know? Let's focus on those," I set up a Readers Respond page for positive stories of nice reactions to our children with special needs, to balance out the toxic tales of cluelessness and cruelty. Three upbeat reports have come in so far, and they're a great way to start the week:

From sylrayj: "I love my friends! Several of them regularly say how beautiful my kids are, how sweet, how nice... They're right; we do a lot to help them be able to keep an even keel, so their natures can shine through. Still, it's nice that the focus is on our kids' positive traits, instead of how some others would comment that (since we accommodate their needs) we're letting them rule the household."

From tenderharvest: "I actually have quite a few friends who take it upon themselves to let me know how clearly they can understand my children's speech. I appreciate them coming up to me, out of the blue, and just saying, 'You know, I had a great conversation with Billy today!'--especially when they couldn't understand more than a word or two (of what Billy said) just a short while ago. I also appreciate friends who come up to me and say, 'I really want to understand how I can improve the times I spend with your son. Can you help me understand what he's saying and where he's coming from, so I can interact with him better?' There was no prodding on my part to get them to say that and they had humble hearts in approaching me--love it!"

From Cathy: "We have an almost 25 year old son with Autism that is making strides in his own time and place and we are proud of him. We are welcomed at church and other places too. Yes, people ask how he is when he isn't around. It is a nice feeling to know we are included in things in the community too."

Has somebody said something nice about your child? That's the Question of the Week here on About.com Parenting Special Needs, and I can't wait to read about what you've witnessed. (Of course, if you're still steaming about some not-so-nice pronouncement, you can still vent about that.)

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