I like to sign Cody up for things.
I do the same with DJ.
It’s what I do.
Sometimes, it works out.
Sometimes, it doesn’t.
Karate has always been one of those “doesn’t work out” things for Cody.
Last summer, we signed him up in San Diego. He half-heartedly made attempts at participating.
One day, my blood boiled as I watched the other kids in the class laugh at him, call him “special”, and not include him.
It was a student teacher instructing the class and she made no effort to put a stop to it.
With these children’s parents sitting beside me, I stood up and out loud said “I don’t think it is appropriate that you are making fun of him and that needs to stop.”
Not a single parent did a thing.
The student teacher (she was just a little bit older than these children), asked them to stop. They continued.
Parents still didn’t say a word.
By then, Cody stopped participating. Ashamed that the kids were laughing at him.
I don’t blame him.
When the main instructor entered the studio, I told him what had happened.
He immediately went up the to the group and reprimanded them. He even looked at the parents and addressed them.
Still nothing from the parents.
The parent of the child that initiated the teasing was not there. The teacher called him that evening to tell him what had happened. He was beyond apologetic.
From then on, Cody had no real desire to be there.
I still don’t blame him.
Fast forward to now…
We signed Cody up at the Taekwondo school that DJ had been attending since he was 5.
I was nervous.
All those years that DJ attended the school, I had not seen a child with Down syndrome sign up.
On his first day of class, he proudly wore his uniform and was excited to attend the same school as his brother.
He ran the laps…
He wasn’t shy.
He didn’t dance in the mirror. Okay, maybe a little.
He did what the other kids were doing.
That was 3 months ago.
Now….
He continues to progress. He is excited to go to class. He is learning his form and can do it with almost no help.
I took this video of him yesterday.
You know what else was awesome…and what warms my heart the most?
He was is just one of the guys there.
The other students are quick to praise him (the same way the praise other students). They walk up to me after class to tell me what a great job he did learning something new.
When we are walking to the car, students come up to him to provide praise or help on a technique he may have had an issue with.
All the same stuff they do with other students.
I don’t expect life to be easy for a child with special needs. Shoot, I don’t expect life to be easy for any child or adult for that matter.
BUT it warms my heart and fills me with pride for not only my child, but the other children’s parents when children show acceptance. When they don’t just see his disability, but they see Cody.
Kids can be pretty awesome.
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