Sacred ground of special needs
I HAVE a 17-year-old daughter with special needs.
It has begun to sink in that there are those who treat people like her with no integrity at all.
Is it so difficult to recognise the person with special needs as an individual? Is it the thought that they won’t know or understand? Doesn’t the way one treats a special needs person reflect one’s character?
Therefore if a person is slow to respond, or if there is a likelihood that they might not understand one’s sarcasm, then can one go on saying whatever they feel like?
I have seen cases where the child is within earshot of the caretakers who just hurl words about her being slow or unable to perform tasks like a normal person. Isn’t this the reason they are at the centre in the first place?
Parents with special needs kids have no way to check the progress of their child unless they pay an exorbitant sum of money and enrol them at an exclusive and high-class centre.
A normal centre might take for granted the caring for such children. The special child goes in and comes out of the centre – but whether the child had a good day or not, the parents can’t find out. The child is unable to explain that. Most of them are not communicative. But although they can’t talk, they are very sensitive. They can even feel the things said about them in another language. They can feel our energy.
The centre is not a place for unscrupulous operators to do as they like. It’s a place to serve these kids well, and have a genuine heart to serve. Teachers who teach here must be admirable; they must empty their thoughts and all the negative baggage they carry before they approach these kids.
These children live in this world, seemingly downgraded sans many normal behaviours, but are par excellence in their virtues – they do not think ill of another, they do not lie, they have no pride or ego, they have no competitiveness, they have no sins.
Caregivers who speak ill of them, or laugh at their innocence, are laughing at God’s own creations. God gave them to selected families to check the hearts of many who would cross their paths.
Luckily, I have found a place where my child is cherished and cared for – by the nurturers of many races – and treated as their own flesh and blood. They also constantly remind me that it is a blessing for me to have this child, and not a curse as some might say.
My only hope is that more people will act more humanely towards these special beings. We must be careful what we say, especially when no normal person is watching or listening, as during these times the One above will be tuning in.