I Heart CDG

No, I really don't love CDG, but that's the button I wore the other week to AJ's school. AJ designed buttons for us to wear while we shared with his class about CDG and Teddy, so I proudly wore mine.

Every year since kindergarten, AJ and I have presented to his class to share a bit about Teddy and his diagnosis. I view it as a great opportunity to help his classmates understand not only a bit more about Teddy in particular, but also how to interact with people with disabilities. (It's easy. Like they're people.)

AJ talked about adapted equipment Teddy uses. 

AJ put so much effort into this presentation, with obvious love for his brother and a desire to help others understand Teddy. This was the first year where he did the majority of the talking with me adding a few things and guiding a few questions. He put together a Power Point presentation and did a very nice job with that. I showed a few pieces of Teddy's equipment, such as his chair and demonstrated the backpack carrier with AJ. We talked about how these things allow Teddy to do the things we enjoy as a family.

The kids listened so well.

Then we played charades with his class. AJ used his list for Valentine's to divide his class ahead of time into three groups, and he even created the charade ideas this year. They were definitely really tough, such as "No bullying" or "I love Oreos." We use the game of charades to help the kids think of what it's like to communicate without talking ... how frustrating it can be to not be able to talk and be understood but also how hard it is to guess what someone wants or means from a few gestures. One boy nailed it on the head when he said, "You can't just give up because Teddy can't tell you."

I have spent time in AJ's classroom on a regular basis, and I can say without any exaggeration that I have never seen his classmates sit or listen as well as they did for his presentation ... at least until he passed around the pictures after about 20 or 30 minutes of talking.

As long as AJ's teacher is willing, I hope to continue this tradition every year. I think it's nice for AJ to be able to share about Teddy with his classmates to build some empathy and understanding. I also think it's absolutely critical that children get exposure to others who are different to demystify things and help them understand that children with disabilities are still children who want to play and have fun in their own ways.