Children with special needs

Excerpts from the article "The special road to happiness" by Choo Kah Ying - Educator and freelance writer published in The Straits Times.

Generally people seem to think:

• Children with special needs are an encumbrance to their family and society.
• Such children are far too much of an inconvenience to impose upon anyone who is not biologically or legally obliged to care for them.
• Thus, no "good" man could be expected to forge a long-term relationship with a woman whose prospects of happiness are doomed by the existence of an autistic child.

If you take a moment to think about your own children with special needs, I hope you, too, will be awestruck by the incredible odds that your children have overcome to do the things that professionals told you they could never be expected to do. Moreover, their effort has, in turn, inspired you to transcend your limited perspective, resources and strength to do the best you can for them.

Yet, unfortunately, even when caregivers become enlightened about their children, they still have to parry the concerns of family and friends with their stereotypical conceptions of these children as burdens. Until e recognise that people with special needs are blessings who offer us the opportunity to rise above our flawed natures, we will never treat them with the respect that they deserve.

Can we be humble enough to see our interactions with "special" people as learning opportunities to better ourselves? Can we be open-minded enough to see the world through their eyes? Can we be gracious enough to extend our help without adopting a pose of superiority?

I hope that w can all rise to the occasion.

--Thanks to Choo Kah Ying for this wonderful insight on the children with special needs and it is no doubt an eye opener for everyone.