A Mother's Thoughts at a Kindergarten Christmas Play

She is so excited! Her first Kindergarten play, the Christmas play. I've heard about it for weeks now and heard her singing the songs as she plays. Now maybe she's the one who should be nervous, so why do I feel sick? I anxiously await her to take the stage and quietly say a prayer. I don't want her to freeze up. If she does she will be so disappointed. I want everyone else to see the beautiful person I know. Will it ever be time, no disrepect but move it along chorus. I want to see my girl. O'kay, here they come. HOw does she look? Is she o'kay? What is her body language saying to me, her hands? She seems o'kay. Thank goodness! Everyone's on stage, time to begin. What? Is that a smile? Are her lips moving? They are! I think words are coming out;she's singing! She's really doing it! My heart melts and emotions flood my soul. Song over. Shew! Made it through one, looking good. Second song begins. Still happy, still singing. As the songs come and go she seems a little distracted and will stop singing briefly then back on track. Halfway through now and she is squirmming but good. To the unknowing person it seems nothing, but I know she is trying not to flap her hands and it's hard. She's happy, she's overwhelmed. She keeps it together all the way through. Many times my eyes well with tears, my face with smiles and my mind with memories. Not too long ago this would've never happened. So many programs like these at church and preschool have been heartbreaking to watch and sometimes impossible to participate in. I am so proud! What's more is she is so proud! You may say it's just a kindergarten play, what's the big deal? Who's not proud of their kid? Who doesn't want them to do well? I guess everyone does. It is just so different for me, for us. It's a miracle whether you take it for one or not. I know where we've come from. My daughter is autistic. I'm sure you had no idea. Most people don't, but she is. Because of that many special memories like this haven't been a reality. I look at her tonight and think we made it! She made it! We survived but better yet she was awesome! I couldn't be prouder if she had just won president, which she just might so someday if the scientist thing doesn't work out. There are so many things when you look at her you can't see but tonight she let you see a glimpse of her. Not autism, her, because autism is just a small part of who she is. And she is Amazing!

Written after Christmas play 2009 about my daughter, Lilli who is a proud Aspie.

URGENT URGENT
11 yr old Zakh charged with a felony!! Crime: AUTISM
Zakh had a meltdown at school because his FBA and PBA were not done. The two things the district agreed to do at the IEP they didn't do. He had a meltdown and when they tried to restrain him, he kicked the principal (once) and pushed the teacher (and her words she says 'I fell into the bookcase'...not that he pushed her into it.
He destroyed the room as they escalated his meltdown by nothing following the IEP.
The principal claim injuries...but no one went to a doctor or missed a day of work.
This is the good ol boy network in play. They want to get him out of the schools so they don't have to pay for his services..and yet the judge refused to let me homeschool him.
It is much more complicated...but he has his felony hearing 12 Jan...but when the district and judge found out this is all over the internet and international, they cancled the hearing. They are furious with me and the public defender has said this won't be good for Zakh. They want him to do a competency test with Dr. Dahoe in Little Rock. Zakh knows right from wrong, but not in a meltdown! The goal is to put him in the state hospital for the rest of his life!
PLEASE HELP SAVE MY GRANDSON!
I'd send you a link but I doubt it will go through.
I have documented EVERYTHING, every law they have broken etc. The DRC is helping with his IEP meeting (11 Jan) but not legal case. The state is doing an investigation. These people would not be doing this if what I'm saying wasn't true as I sent them all the documents I have.
PLEASE HELP, I'M BEGGING YOU. The public defender screamed at me "I DON'T HAVE TO TALK TO YOU OR THE MOTHER...JUST ZAKH! I asked you mean an 11 yr old autistic boy with MR?
And she yelled YES!
If you can't help, do you know anyone not afraid of Ft. Smith Schools?
Thanks
Carole Reynolds
479-459-2730

PS: Google Zakh- autistic and you will see the info about him.

Let the little children come to me

Once my son, Paul, had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, I couldn’t leave him anywhere. Not even church. One day, I bumped into the Sunday school teacher Paul had had the previous year, who asked me why she never saw him anymore. When I explained the situation to her, without a moment’ hesitation, she asked me to bring him to church the following week so she could watch him. To this day, I am amazed by the significance of that single act of obedience—turns out, it was the starting point of what was to become a huge ministry.

Sunday came, and Paul was happily reunited with Mrs. Rice in one of the empty classrooms at church. In the months that followed, she played games with him and taught him lessons from the AWANA book. One of the first verses he memorized was Ephesians 6:1, which he thought was: “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for Mrs. Rice,” instead of “for it is right.”

Let the little children come to me, said Jesus, and come they did. First Didi, then Ross, then Christina. That was 1996. Soon, one classroom spilled over into two, and it soon became a full-fledged ministry called Access Ministry. Thirteen years later, over 500 families touched by disability file through the doors of McLean Bible Church every weekend.

Until he left for college, Paul volunteered in Access. Here’s something he wrote in one of his college application essays: “I don’t have to think too hard or long to know what it’s like for those kids, because I was once just like them. So I do what I can to help them know that they’re not on some lonely planet in the left quadrant of the universe, and that I really do appreciate the many ways they show the inner workings of their enigmatic minds.

The other volunteers in the class often look over at me in amusement to see what I’m doing with the kids, whether it’s helping a boy build a cardboard structure only to watch him knock it down seconds later, or voluntarily crushing myself under a foam wedge while another kid lies on top of it. In a way, I’m an interpreter between the two worlds by helping volunteers connect with the students, and helping the students feel connected to the real world. At the end of each class, I feel good, even when I have had to physically suffer as an entertainer.

Most may not remember me years from now, but maybe a few will, just as I still remember the people who were kind and accepting of me when I was young. And people say autistics are not aware of their surroundings!”

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Luke 14:13