Perhaps We're Approaching Normal Enough

The last two years Imma has participated in the Special Olympics.  This year, she isn't eligible to participate. I absolutely love the Special Olympics.  I think it's a wonderful way for athletes to show what they are capable and that they are not limited or defined by their disabilities. I would, however, be lying if I said that it never bothered me to see my daughter in her Special Olympics t-shirt.  I wasn't embarrassed or anything like that, I was just sad.  It just seemed like another way my child was being labeled as different.  So, even though I love that we have a Special Olympics and I think it's amazing to see athletes come together and compete and cheer each other on, I'm not sad that my child wasn't eligible. And honestly, if we allowed children who are identified for special education only because of a speech disability to compete in the Special Olympics, doesn't that take away from many of the other athletes who have more limiting disabilities?  If you disagree, I'd love to hear your polite explanation as to why, but, in my opinion, students with speech disabilities are generally capable of participating in regular sporting events and shouldn't be allowed to participate in the Special Olympics and it's kind of sad for the other children that my daughter was allowed to participate for two years with a qualification of speech-only.  Of course, if you've read my story then you know that we had some made-up labels that also allowed her to compete, but you will have to go back in my blog history to read all about that!
Imma is actually going to play t-ball this year and she's been practicing.  She can hit the ball pretty well.  She doesn't bend her knees, she often puts the wrong hand on top of the bat, and she doesn't swing as hard as she probably needs to, but she can actually connect the bat to the ball and that's better than I can do most of the time. I'm pretty sure she'll forget where to run once she's in an actual game--or she'll skip to first base  like I used to--but she's going to be playing with other typically-developing children and I'm eager to see how she does.  I hope she has a coach with a lot of patients and a team that doesn't put a lot of pressure on her to do well!  She'll make mistakes like we all do but I think she'll have fun.  And I think she'll learn a lot.  I was once told she was not capable of observing other children and mimicking their actions so that she knows what she's supposed to do.  That is completely untrue and I think that her friends will help her understand what to do and that she will learn a lot from watching them.
I am excited for her to have the opportunity to be a part of a team and hopefully continue to grow some friendships. My dad always said that playing sports wasn't about competing in a game, it was about figuring out life--how to work together, how to be a leader, how to be a cheerleader, how to win and how to lose gracefully.  I want Imma to know all of those things. It warms my heart to see how well some of her classmates look out for her and help with everything from eating lunch to following directions. I want to see how that carries over to other areas of life.  And she's a good athlete, too! She's fast, strong, and a super climber, which doesn't help with t-ball but it does help with sports in general.
Spring will be here shortly and I can't help but think back to where we were a year ago. Imma was in the process of being kicked out of daycare. I was getting notes about her behavior from her teachers almost daily. I was at my wits end trying to figure out what to do with her.  We were driving for hours twice a week to get to speech and O/T and, while she was making progress, it was hard to see through all of the clutter.  Now, here we are a year later and, while we still have our struggles, she's come so far.  There are times when people are talking to her that I catch myself almost explaining to them that she's not able to understand them and I stop myself.  Let them figure it out for themselves--or not. Maybe they won't know.  Maybe she'll be "normal" enough. And that's all I really want for her at the end of the day--normal enough,  not the same as everyone else, but normal enough to get by. She may have lost a little bit of her "special"ness this year, but in a good way, in my opinion. There's a balance between special and normal and I guess that's what we are trying to find.