Years ago I was listening to a Wayne Dyer program and he spoke about his talk with Nelson Mandela. He said Mandela told him he needs to do everything he can to get rid of Apartheid (shows you how long ago this was). This isn’t verbatim but Mandela said South Africa was the only place left where it was written down on paper that segregation and racism was acceptable.
I never thought of it like that before.
Segregation and discrimination happen all over the place but where it’s written down and practiced as the status quo, it’s most deadly.
That taught me a valuable lesson early on about the power of the written word.
When my son, who we call the Peanut, turned one we noticed some development delays. We had a feeling something was wrong because our daughter had a speech delay too. No big deal. We had him examined and he was diagnosed with autism.
The big fat letter said so. The doctor did too. I didn’t panic.
Here’s how I have always looked at the Peanut and anyone else with a mental health label. The diagnosis just tells me HOW his brain works. My job is learning how to work with the way he learns.
What’s that cliché? The best direction to ride horse is the direction it’s already going. Yeah…it’s like that.
Over the years I’ve seen parents freak out over an autism diagnosis. The stress. Divorce. Or they act like their child is combustable like Jack Jack from the Incredibles movies.
Words have power but you also don’t have to give them ALL your power.
Adam