Disability Advocate
Elayne Pearson, Over 20 yrs. Experience with Disability Awareness, Advocacy, and Achievements
"If I had to choose the single most defining experience of my life, I would have to say having a disabled child come into our home. Miss Heidi has taken us to places that stretched us physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually - that we would have never been able to travel without her in our life. She's made a profound impact on our family, nation, and world."
"Since the birth of our daughter, Heidi, who has Down syndrome, and then autism, we have been walking a road less traveled. We weren't prepared for the pot holes, unexpected detours, and blind spots along the way. Yes, there have been brief stretches of smooth going, wonderful views, and deeper insights learned along the path as well. Now, we want to share our story to help others traveling on this challenging journey."
If you would like to have a free abridgment of Elayne's book, "Learning to Dance in the Rain", Click the link below to make a request and indicate a mailing address. Email Elayne
We the Willing
We, the willing, lead by the unknown, are doing the impossible! We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing. -author unknown
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandt's.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.