I remember being 5 years old, sitting on a plane coming home from California. I was almost jumping out of my seat in excitement because I had a new little cousin waiting at home for me. I was so excited, I was going to have someone to play with and someone that I could teach all the fun things I know to. My mom kept trying to tell me that he was going to be a little different than the rest of us, but none of that mattered to me.
When we got to our house, our whole family was gathered in the living room. When I walked up to my new cousin, I realized what my mom was trying to tell me. He looked different than a normal baby, but nothing seemed to be wrong with him, then my parents took me into a different room and had a talk with me. My cousin James was born with Down Syndrome.
Despite his disability, James has more to offer this world than most people without one. He is kind, loyal and gives the best hugs when you need them the most. More times than I can count, when I was at my lowest, James was always there to hug me and tell me that he loved me. Can he do everything that other people can? No. Does this stop him from trying? No. Does he learn the same as everyone else? No. Does this make him dumb? Absolutely not.
People tend to forget that before someone is autistic and before someone is disabled, they are people. They are someone's child, someone's sibling, someone's parent. Too often in modern society do we see people using the term "retarded" as a term for idiotic, not good. And there are people who will say that "it's free speech, I can say what I want" (true story). If what I just said describes you, read the next paragraph.
Imagine you as you are. Only, you can't say what you wanna say, any loud noise feels like a gunshot next to your ears, your anxiety is on high at all times, you can't even control your own body sometimes. Imagine not being able to understand why other kids stare at you, why they don't want to play with you, why they're being so mean. Now imagine you're a parent, how would you feel if people were staring at your child constantly, purposely avoiding them. If you don't feel like a huge piece of crap right now, then I don't know what I can do to help you.
I have been given the privilege of working with individuals with disabilities since I was young. Their unconditional love is what drove me to pursue the career that I'm going to school for now. And even though there are bites, tantrums, and just overall bad days, the moments of love is what keeps me and anyone in my field going. I recently ran into a young man who I worked with many years ago, and although we hadn't seen each other in years, even though he couldn't see me when I told him my name, he squeezed my hand and smiled. For that, I will gladly take kicks, bites, slaps and whatever else comes my way.
To the people who have read this far and consider this "more SJW bullshit", just know that I don't feel any anger towards you, just pity. Because you will never know the love and unconditional friendship that these people will give to anyone who shows them kindness. Live with that.
