Cheer Them On

In the 80’s, I was teaching at a child care centre for about two years. Part of this time, I was seconded to a class that was started by the organization with the help of a psychologist. That class was for special needs children from the ages of two to six years. Some of the children are autistic, has Down’s syndrome or cerebral palsy conditions. What many normal children can achieve easily can be a mountainous task for these special needs children. So when there complete a task assigned to them, we would encourage, praise and spur them on enthusiastically. It brought much joy to us to see them growing and developing slowly and steadily.

A mother of a child came to mind, her son has Down’s syndrome. At that time the boy was about two years old. What stunned me most was that his vocabulary far surpassed children of his age. The reason was because his mother was teaching and stimulating him so well. His mother, whom I believe is a Christian, always had a smile on her face despite of the challenges and difficulties she faced.