Happy Friday!

 

One of the more difficult areas of parenting a child with disabilities is working for inclusion and integration into every environment. Ironically, I had anticipated hitting lots of barriers with ensuring access for Rowan, but I’m so happy to say that our family rarely ever feels anything but love and appreciation from the people we meet on our adventures, and environments have come a long way in terms of accommodating people with disabilities. Rowan’s public preschool is absolutely AMAZING and Rowan gets SO excited every time he realizes he gets to see his teachers and friends. Our neighborhood friends are equally so loving to Rowan, and it’s a joy seeing them all learn from each other. Rowan even started his first season playing baseball with the Toyota Miracle League and it’s been amazing. When it comes to accessibility, when we went on vacation, we found a playground we happened upon in a very small city that was wheelchair/disability friendly. It was so much fun for the whole family!

 

Interestingly, where inclusion can be the most difficult is within the actual family.  Because Rowan’s brain functions differently from a typically developing child, including his auditory and visual impairments, he simply doesn’t enjoy the same toys or activities that other children do. He is also dependent on us for eating and drinking, and takes a 2-3 hour nap, which means he has less time to participate in family activities. Especially with him being a twin, I’ve admittedly struggled with not getting to watch Ellie & Rowan experience a traditional twin relationship (I am a twin and can speak to the joys of this) and am constantly trying to come up with creative ways for all of us to get to play together.  But the truth is that Rowan simply enjoys doing his own thing a lot of the time and that’s probably okay! Rowan loves to swim, watch tv, dance, and play ipad games like his brothers and sisters, and so we try to capitalize on that. We also frequently encourage our young children to talk to Rowan normally, because even though he can’t verbally speak, it teaches him the back and forth of communication and encourages him to use his Tobii Dynavox to respond. Communication is a big key to inclusion and something I’m hopeful Rowan can achieve.

 

So, my advice to myself has been to try and let go a little when it comes to my expectations and to trust that we are doing the best we can as a family to grow together. My advice to others is to keep letting your sweet kids ask lots of questions and to not shy away from playing with/talking to kids with disabilities. It’s definitely a joy that goes both ways!

 

Love,

 

The Wallace’s