My nephew, almost 10, has Prader-Willi Syndrome, so I always considered myself as understanding when it comes to people with disabilities. I learned just how much — or little — I knew, when, the other day, I found myself in the doctor’s office sitting beside a special kid (in his teens). I don’t know what his condition was, but he was being loud and saying incoherent things the whole time I was there the good part of an hour). Sometimes he would laugh and smile at the TV. From time to time, his mom would call out his name to calm him down. It seemed to me she thought he was bothering me.

I was then faced with thoughts I never really considered before. I thought I was 100 % comfortable and understanding when it came to people with special needs. That I interacted with them as naturally as I would with everyone else.

Sitting there, however, I felt that I had to make an extra effort to show everyone that I didn’t mind. That I understood how it felt like to have a kid with special needs. I even made it a point to return to my seat beside the boy (I had to go up to the nurse to sign some papers) even though there were a lot of empty seats.

Your article made me realize even more that I have a lot to learn. Just because we have a lovely young boy in the family who has special needs doesn’t make me all that different from people who aren’t in the same situation.

I hope everyone gets this message and spreads it around.

“While awkward at first, the more comfortable our society becomes with people with disabilities the less we’ll see a mother forced to tears by the way we misunderstand and treat her son.”

Thank you for sharing your experience.