This was a particularly emotional week for me. I found myself comforting the mother of a very young child with Autism who is really struggling with some very significant behavior challenges and she hoped to someday be in a position to advocate for services that would meet the needs of other families in Western Mass. Then she added, "at least we live in the North East!" Which, is fortunate. This very same mom turned and asked the question, "Do they have Autism in the bush of Africa? and what do those poor families do?" Knowing the answers that...yes, they DO have children with Autism in remote areas of Africa and they likely do all they can just to survive...we both took a few moments to grieve over that situation. Somehow, sometimes displacing what we face as difficulty to compassion for other people in similar situations give us (as Moms...as professionals...as humans...) a little bit more room to breathe. We breathe...we ponder...then we do something constructive about it. While this particular mom can't make the Autism her son faces on a daily basis go away, she can make strides in improving his daily life in small steps. AND SHE DOES! And while I really don't know how the educational system for children with special needs works in Africa, I am learning about Bulgaria, and do think that is a very fine place to start. I just needed to get started.
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