What you don't see

I am not out on social media about my kids getting services.  I don't broadcast it everywhere to all I meet, and honestly, to most I have discussed it with, they have no idea the actual impact on me, my kids, or my family's life.  I have a just a few people who probably "get it" without being a parent with a kid with any needs, and then I have my friends who are or who have been in my boat.

Anyways, Laura and I talk about this sometimes.  You can't tell.  You look at Landon's sweet face, little freckles he's getting, amazing green eyes, and you don't know he can barely speak.

You see Logan, with that crazy hair, to die for cheeks, and the best, happy personality, and you don't know under his little shirt, he is taped with kinesio tape to help his abs and trunk.

You don't know.

You can't tell that from Landon's Halloween costume, that he really didn't want to wear it.  No one knows Logan took forever to learn to self feed and still can't isolate his index finger.

They don't know Landon gets music therapy now 2x per week on top of his whole special education program.

They don't know I have had my kids in therapy since 10 m, done private therapy, craniosacral therapy, b12 shots, gluten free diet, removed dairy, etc, etc, to try to help, to do anything.  No one knows.

So what don't we know about others that we see?  I know my sister is honest.  Her son is about 1 year advanced in most areas.  This morning, I saw him work his zipper and was amazed. No therapy needed for that.  However,  I have told others about my kids, and they remarked that their own children were in services, had xyz dx, have a learning disability, are anxious, tried to kill themselves, were held back, etc, etc.  Most of us don't know a lot about others we meet.  That's the nature of our society, so I do try to remember when I see a picture of a child out and about at the mall, behaving, or sitting with a grandparent.  We don't know the whole story of that child, and I think there's a lot to learn, if everyone ever wanted to share.