This Will Forever By My Favorite
I was filling out Cooper’s application for the Minnesota Autism Center earlier this week and I had to write down his diagnosis. It kills me every time. He has multiple. Language Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and the killer…lack of normal physiological development. And we could very easily add Apraxia in there. Sigh. It’s hard. It hurts. And I hate it. I hate it so much I could scream.
Anyhow, I stumbled across this on Facebook today and it’s a damn good reminder of the power a parent can have. It makes me cry every time I read it. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders when it comes to homeschooling vs mainstream education. Both are wonderful. We all know I believe it takes a village to raise a kiddo like Cooper but still….being a mama bear never hurts.
One day, Thomas Edison came home and gave a paper to his mother. He told her, “My teacher gave this paper to me and told me to only give it to my mother.”
His mother’s eyes were tearful as she read the letter out loud to her child: “Your son is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn’t have enough good teachers for training him. Please teach him yourself.”
After many, many years, Edison’s mother died, and he had become one of the greatest inventors of the century. One day he began looking through old family things. Suddenly he saw a folded paper in the corner of a drawer in a desk. He took it and opened it up. On the paper was written: “Your son is addled [mentally ill]. We won’t let him come to school any more.”
Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary: “Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child that, by a hero mother, became the genius of the century.” #ThePowerOfAnExtraodinaryMother
Instant tears. You are a hero mother, no matter what happens in the future.
That one did me in too. That his momma protected him, loved him, let him be who he was so he could become what he did, rather than letting someone’s label dictate his life. I pray to be that momma, every single day.
Dang. That made me cry too. My was kicked out of kindergarten. It hurt.
*my son
I cry every time I see his too. I confess I lie to my son too. I have to shield him from the adults who he thinks he can trust from their real thoughts because it would crush him… hell it breaks me. The education system is “one size fits all” which doesn’t set up most kids for sucks but with s child with a disability…warrior mom activation time 🙁
Beyond beautiful! You are doing right by protecting him and the one size fits all system of schooling can be very limiting.
I’ve nominated you for a Premio Dardos Award – http://losttothedark.wordpress.com 🙂 x
Wow amazing mom, kinda like you?and many moms out there. I love to hear of stories like this. I do wonder if I’ll ever need to homeschool my ads son as well in the future. I know its a possibilitie.
BTW, I just discovered your blog and really love and can relate, your doing a good thing here….many Thanks Nat
Thank you!
Very good information. Lucky me I came across your blog by chance (stumbleupon).
I have saved as a favorite for later!