At ALA Annual of this year, I caught the end of Dave Isay's presentation. Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps.
I've found that I'm still thinking about this particular story in which a twelve year old boy (who has Asperger's syndrome) interviews his mother. Here is the animated short.
I think about the questions he asks like, "Have you ever lied to me?" and "Was I the child you hoped I would be?"
I think about how his mother calmly responds, never skipping a beat: "You've exceeded my expectations ... You have made me grow so much as a parent. [I've had to learn to think outside the box, and I thank you for that.]"
In my personal life, I think about the people that I'm close to that face such different challenges than myself.
In my professional life, I think about the challenge of sharing stories and information with a group of developmentally diverse children.
I think about how by knowing and interacting with all those who are different from me, I have had such opportunity to grow as an individual.
