Imagination & experts

When Emily was very little, I was told by one of the "experts" that kids with DS have little imagination and tend to sit listlessly unless stimulated. hmmmmm,   I guess Emily sure showed her.
That girl had a vivid imagination! She talked non-stop to her imaginary friends. We buckled them in seat belts, set their plates at the table, and waited for them to finish their turns. She was their teacher, their parents, their boss.

Each of these blocks had a kid face on one side.  These were her audience, her students, her friends.

Emily's favorite toy was a stick, any stick. I've seen a stick transform into a microphone, a baton, a crutch, a sword, a horse, and a musical instrument.   Placed on her shoulder, like a hobo, her stick held her bags. Oh and talking about bags.... Emily was a bag lady. She loved anything with a handle and regularly packed everything out of her closet.                                                                             

 

making noise (otherwise known as music)

                                                 

  She also loved to dress up.  To keep her out of my closet, I went to the local goodwill and bought an assortment of dress up clothes.   No imagination?

                                             

                                                        
 If the experts were right, then Emily was an exception.  But what I know now, they weren't and Emily wasn't.  I have met many kids with disabilities and have found that each has their own strengths and abilities that make them unique.  Exactly like every other kid.

   If I had to do it over again, I'd listen less to the experts and more to myself, less to the professionals and more to Emily.  I would spend less time chasing the elusive dream and desire for normalacy  and spend more time enjoying, appreciating the gift of her reality.

                           IMPAIRED
   She entered my life a broken treasure;
   My dream for a child exchanged for the nightmare of a diagnosis.
   The doctor's words cursed her life
   Sentenced her to be less than whole.

   But the 'who she is' becomes larger than the 'what I fear',
   And the verdict fades 'til I forget,
   I find it's we who are impaired.
   For lack of sight, we miss her gift.
                                 Annemarieke, 2003