Please do not view my son for everything his disability claims him to be.

For he is everything but. He is fierce in anything he sets his mind to.

Although it may take him some time, he finds a way to do it.

It may look different than how your child does it, but trust that it will get done.

He is intelligent. At just two years old, he is able to hold conversations with kids and adults of all ages.

His frame may be thin but after a few minutes he still gets as tiring to hold as any other toddler!

I see the stares and conversations under their breathes at the playground, stores or restaurants.

I hear the mothers’ warning their children to be extra careful around my boy.

Making the exception when he takes their toy, scolding them to let him play as he pleases.

I will let you know that despite his diagnosis, he has still learned how to share toys and play appropriately. I scold him when he takes toys away, not sharing as he should.

He still has things to do at home, like cleaning up after himself when he has taken every toy out of his toy box.

If he spills, I kindly hand him a napkin and I teach him how to clean the spill up.

My open letter is to simply ask that you do not view nor treat my son any different than you would your own child.

He is capable of mischievous things just the same as any other child, and my goal is to raise him the same as my other children.

Because of this, he has never viewed his disability as something that sets him apart from his siblings or any other children.

Although young, he does not even seem aware that he has a disability. Growing up, it is all he has ever known.

So I ask that you do not view him as fragile, small, incapable, or even angelic.

I do love to brag that he is one awesome kid (who is pretty good at following the rules), but I do know that he loves getting into things he shouldn’t.

Curious little minds can lead to all kinds of discoveries. Just the same as curious minds can lead us down the road of new awareness to things such as his diagnosis.

Instead of shying away from him because he wears braces on his legs or uses a wheelchair for getting around, encourage your little ones or even yourself to come over and inquire about what you are curious about!

If things don’t seem like such a taboo and we learn about them, they might not seem so foreign to our children.

We are the biggest teachers of our children’s life!