When I was a kid, I had an older cousin who was "different". She would now be classified as "mentally challenged" and would be taught skills so that she could function. 50 years ago, she wasn't sent to school, taught to dress or to feed herself and spent most of everyday sitting in front of the television. She didn't communicate and I was kind of scared of her went we went to visit.
I was given the opportunity to work with some "challenged" individuals through the Scout program. There a some who remind me a lot of my cousin, but I'm not scared anymore. Our society has evolved where handicapped individuals no longer are hidden in our homes. Mainstreaming these individuals in our schools has enabled our children to realize that being "different" is not always a bad thing. The "kids" I work with are between the ages of 20 and 70 and have lots of different abilities. I'm challenged to come up with a program once a month that enables all of them to learn something, have fun, socialize and usually take home a craft of some sort. The nights that we have our group meeting can be hectic, noisy and disorganized, but I come home feeling good, because they approach everything with such a good attitude. I very seldom hear "I Can't" but always "I'll try". And some of them are very creative - their projects turn out much nicer than some of my "examples". Last week we learned about the Iowa Indians and made dance sticks and rattle bracelets. And when I threw in some kazoos, we had a great music fest.
Appoach everything with a positive outlook.
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