“My mom said you are welcome to come to our home and play anytime!” I turned, astonished, to look at who said this to my son as we were waiting to cross the street to go into school one morning. A sweet fourth-grade girl, whom I recognized as another student with exceptional needs, was standing beside him smiling.
No child had ever said this to him before.
I knew this kind gesture was for me and my son. I had shared some struggles with this little girl’s mom during a conversation at our public library a few weeks earlier because our children share similar traits and diagnoses. This thoughtful and friendly act warmed my heart and made me happy. There was, however, a flinch of pain as well. Deep down, while grateful for this new friendship, I longed for someone from the church to receive my son so openly. Sadly, I have found that these are the relationships that have been the most difficult to develop.
It’s natural for our kids to gravitate toward a certain kind of person — someone with whom it’s easy to talk to and get along with. There is nothing wrong with that. Yet, I think we, as parents, should become more purposeful about helping our kids get to know children with special needs. They are the ones who stick out because they are always too loud or usually say something awkward — in all honesty, the ones that most kids think are weird or annoying.