Sharing “I CAN!” Attitudes Jaeden, Matthew, Kayla
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Proud of Himself!
My son, Jaeden, is 4 years old and has Cerebral Palsy and FASD. He was in his first “play” this past weekend! He was so proud of himself he slept in his costume!! ~Kelli Kaetterhenry
When Magic Happens
Being the parents of a child with multiple disabilities, we celebrate each and every mini milestone. We threw a party when Matthew made eye contact. We blogged when he held a ball for the first time, even though it lasted but mere moments. Being the parent of a child with multiple disabilities, you celebrate what you can, and you take pride in all things your children do. So, when the time came to celebrate Matthew’s 2nd birthday, all the arrangements had been made: the perfect decorations, perfect cake, guest list….oh the awesome cake! We sang happy birthday. We gave him a piece of cake for picture’s sake. And then…magic happened. Our sweet boy reached his hand down, smashed a piece and lifted it to his mouth. Chewing ensued and happiness ripped throughout the party!! If I thought I could get away with it, I would get a billboard to celebrate this milestone. Did I happen to mention Matthew was also blind? Matthew had his cake….and ate it too! ~ Brandi Fought
Sun, Moon, Earth and Space
My 7 yr old daughter, Kayla, has Down syndrome. She’s in the 1st grade. They were studying about the sun, moon, earth and space. She came home from school with a mobile and I asked her “When do we see the sun?” expecting her to answer “In the day.” Instead she said, “Up high.” Before I could reiterate the question she went on by saying, “The sun doesn’t move.” I was surprised that she volunteered that information to me. So I asked, “what does move?” Without hesitation she said, “The earth.” This was a proud moment for me indeed because it is rare that my daughter shares what she has learned at school. For her to retain that information, from everything she learned at school that day, and verbalize it to me was huge for her. I was so proud of her! ~Michelle B.
Share a Proud Moment with us Next Issue!
Proud Moments can be any time that you have been extremely proud of your child with special needs. It can be when they are giving it their all or reaching a milestone. You may feel you can only share your excitement or enthusiasm with someone that will really understand. We understand. submit@parentingspecialneeds.org.
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- Let’s Talk Inclusion
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- Setting and Achieving High Expectations
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This post originally appeared on our May/June 2011 Magazine
