Special in Every Way

" We are less when we don't include everyone."

~ Stuart Milk

The first time going out to medical we got to visit a special needs school/home where we did height and weight measurements and a doctor performed a checkup on each kid.  This was a special opportunity where I was completely in my element because it allowed us to play and interact with these special kids.  There was one kid, Ashok, who was the tallest of the bunch and pretty strong.  He suffered from an extreme form of autism and couldn't verbally communicate and was also physically disabled, but he was smart and communicated very well with his hands and gestures.  We clicked and did high fives and fist bumping right from the start.

Within moments of arriving I was swarmed by these children eager to get attention and love.  Several of them just wanted me to hug and hold them, there was even one boy who started dancing with me to an unknown beat.  Once we got the children through the checkups we sang songs with them that included several hand gestures like "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" or "head shoulders knees and toes".  They did a great job in following.

Somehow, Ashok and I started doing fireman holds with the children where we would form a square by interlocking our arms to form a chair for a person to sit in.  We would then lift up a child and carry them around calling them kings and queens in Tamil which is Raja (King) and Reena (Queen).  Being able to pick up those kids and call them Kings and Queens was a special moment for me as well as for them.  Similar to the leprosy patients, individuals with special needs are also considered outcasts of the society and instead of being taken care of by the society they are shunned away, left as nothing better than the trash that lines the streets These children are not trash, they are children of God with incredible spirits: completely innocent, full of love and with a special capacity to trust and forgive quickly and easily.  It was a special moment to have them feel included and loved, and at least temporarily treated as the royal spirits they truly are.