A Moment of Pride

"Why do you need those?" the boy in the library asked Elias, pointing to his canes.

Elias said something but I couldn't hear his words. The boy didn't hear him either.

"Say it again so he can hear you," I prompted, more eager than the boy to hear my son's answer as I've been waiting longer than him to see how Elias will respond to this question that follows him around like a pack of flies.

He usually just ignores it, asks a question of his own, or walks away.

"To help me walk," Elias said.  To help me walk.

And man, I could have melted with pride. Or glee. Or just plain ole shoulder-relaxing relief: He finally answered the question.

And these feelings carried me through the next moment, when our school librarian introduced the boy to Elias and said they could be in the same class next year, and the boy wrinkled his nose and said, "No I'm gonna be in a different class," just like that, distancing himself from Elias who looked away.

"Let's keep walking," Elias said to me.

"Ok babe, let's go."

Comments

[fleming]

you will never need to worry about Elias trying to "find himself" because he is already such a knowing kid. His responses to the world around him are so spot on that I wonder if he hasn't done all of this before in another life. does that make sense? anway. walk on elias. walk on......

[Karen]

One thing to remind yourself - there are always mean kids. Whether you have canes or not. Some kids find something to be mean about no matter what. Just remember there are always nice kids too!

[Shelley]

I wanna be in Elias' class!

[Ginna]

Rrrrrr. Yucky boy. YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY Elias! And pretty nice adaptive response, too. I love that. Let's keep walking. Yep. Fleming's right. Walk on, Elias. There are better people to spend your time with!

[Sara]

That's so awesome! On both counts :)

[Noel Dennehy]

I am walking with Elias! I just wish parents could hear their children when they are so mean and hurtful- they have to have learned it from someone!
I am taking the autistic child I care for to see the Karate Kid tomorrow.

[ann]

fleming articulated what I would have like to have responded myself. Thanks for helping me find my words, fleming. Walk on, Elias, there are better people to spend your emotional energy on. Wise young man.

[Christy]

Thanks all for your kind words. I'm so scared about Elias getting hurt by kids' rejection and yet i know that part of this is my own issue with being left out. Elias may just walk past all the mean petty shit, who knows, and yes for every closed-minded child there is another one who will embrace him with open arms.

And really, this boys reaction didn't bother me as much as it normally would have because I was still glowing after hearing Elias answer the question about his canes for the first time.

[Lynn]

yep, his response was great...and, like Karen says, there will always be mean kids, no matter what the situation. I was the "tall girl" in school, always, so I got the mean remarks about my height. Today, as a 5'10" women, it amazes me that ADULTS can still say shitty things.