Dash of Hope with a Sprinkle of Wisdom

I recently got a dash of hope, actually it was a huge dose but it came in the form of a boy named Dash, who runs quickly in many directions simultaneously, and his sweet sister Lara.

These are Aidan’s little cousins who recently met him for the first time. They intuitively recognized two things that I’ve basically made a second career out of telling people: Aidan is different but he’d love for you to talk to him.

I’m not going to try to convince you that Aidan is just like any other kid; he’s not. He’s eleven years old and he doesn’t speak, he sometimes drools, he uses a wheelchair to get around. He’s different. Different is not bad. That’s a harder lesson to learn than you may think. Just because Aidan doesn’t speak, doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand. He’s actually very social, as is evidenced by his leaning in and smiling when you speak to him. So, if you’re at a loss, just say “hi,” like Lara and Dash did every time they saw Aidan.

This is why I’ll preach inclusion until the day I die; we all become more comfortable around people who are different when we spend time with them.

Dash, in his brilliance and innocence, told his dad, “Tomorrow I’m going to teach Aidan how to speak.” He saw potential and possibility instead of obstacles and improbabilities. I LOVE THAT!

Lara saw Aidan having a seizure and I tried to explain to her that his brain sometimes loses control of his body for a bit. In her wisdom she told me that kids with things going on with their brains are actually smarter than the rest of us. She took it for granted that Aidan was absorbing information and did not hold him culpable for proving it. I LOVE THAT TOO!

So why is it that children don’t rule the world when we clearly have so much to learn from them?

LARA AND DASH FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!

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