What It Means to be a ‘Voice for the Voiceless’
A mom’s journey of being a voice for her autistic son and others who cannot speak for themselves
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We spent a lot of time at the park in my kids’ first years. We lived in an apartment and didn’t have a yard, so we had to go to our small town’s only park to get outside and get energy out.
I remember a mom coming up to me one day and saying, “I’ve been coming here almost every day hoping to run into you.”
My face lit up as I said, “Oh yeah?!”
It’s not often I hear this. As a mom to an autistic son who is nonspeaking, we aren’t exactly in the ‘popular’ crowd. We often get kids that stare and ask why he is the way he is.
I usually answer with something like, “God made us all different, and though my son cannot speak, he can still hear and understand, so you can talk to him or play with him if you’d like.”
They usually mumble something awkwardly and run away. And I smile at my son and tell him I like playing with him, that he is sweet, thoughtful, kind, and beautiful. And all the while, I’m hoping he doesn’t feel left out, rejected, or unwanted by the other kids’ words or actions.
