Sacred Moments and Fragile X

Occasionally, Life hands us a sacred moment.
The truth is that every moment in life is sacred, but so often we go tripping along without noticing.
This week, in a moment of clarity, I recognized that I was being blessed to witness the fragile, delightful quality of God’s creation expressed in a family circle as they included me at mealtime.
I knew there was something special about this family when the grandfather, Don Treul, was telling me about them recently at a Texas Press Association convention. Don is the editor of the Breckenridge American, but the story of his grandson’s experience as a child with Fragile X was a story he had not been able to tell in his paper. It was too personal.
It was the way Don talked about his son, his daughter-in-law and the grandkids that let me know how proud he is of them all.
I called his son, Michael Watkins, when I got back home and the results are the feature you can read in today’s edition.
According to Michael and Amanda there are many things parents can do to make life better for children who are diagnosed with Fragile X and for their siblings:
-Make your child expand. He’s a regular kid, just with a different approach to life. Don’t be blinded by the label of disability.
-While a routine is a good thing for kids with Fragile X, it can work against the parents, if they fail to stretch the routine to include new challenges all the time.
-Don’t hide your special needs child at home. It doesn’t help him to be isolated, even if it feels like you are protecting him. Plus, being isolated is hard on the other siblings.
-Taking him places is good for others. The community needs to know how to respond to special needs kiddoes; how to be comfortable and patient with uniqueness.
-Don’t take it personally. People often do stare and they can be rude and unkind. Without realizing it, judgmental strangers often make problems worse. For example, Fragile X kiddoes are so aware of everyone else’s emotions that if a stranger sees an anxiety attack and assumes it is a temper tantrum, their comments only serve to make the situation more overwhelming.
-Michael and Amanda can’t help but notice when they see other families out who have a child with special needs. They recommend, if appropriate, saying something encouraging to the parents like, “We’re proud of you.”
My thanks this week to Don Treul for recognizing a story that will bless a lot of folks. And to Michael and Amanda for sharing their experience and hope with the rest of us. And to the Watkins kiddoes, Austin and Abigail, for being a blessing just by being exactly who they are.

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives and writes with a Texas twang. Comments are invited at http://checklistcharlie.blogspot.com or cathykrafve@gmail.com.