Two ladies (probably in their early 50s) stopped. One of them tapped the other's shoulder. Said something to her and both looked at my direction. Then another elderly lady came behind them. The shoulder tapper turned to her, said something to her and she also looked at my direction.
Now...what do you think they were doing? They were looking at Jonathan and me. They didn't smile, neither did they come to ask questions. They just stood there for about 30 secs looking at us.
Now...what did I do? I retreated backwards. Then looked at them and they realised it and walked off.
So...what do you think they were thinking? Perhaps in their minds..."Hey! that's the child and mother who were in the documentary recently? Wow...they look better live than on TV!". Or..."eeee-err...why this boy that like? Keep drooling and the way he sits looks wierd. The parents must have done something wrong to get this type of kid."
You choose....
After a while, still at Popular, saw a young girl who has some body disfigurement. Now...this girl can talk and walk, although her body is not normal. What do you think those 3 woman will say? I wonder but I don't want to ponder too much. This girl is brave enough to be out in public so I believe she and her mom are not bothered by what people will say about her.
Like this girl and her mother, I chose to go public so I'm liable to praise or scrutiny. Nothing to worry about. I'm beginning to accept whatever comes my way. People have rights to say whatever they want.
Just don't let me hear them if they are negative.
Life has to go on....the next time I see a special needs child I'll go up to their parents and say I'm encouraged by what they are doing...that's what we need to do.
There are good and bad times.
Good times yesterday afternoon while at City Hall...saw a family with a special needs girl having a meal at PAN Restaurant...another Indian lady came up to ask me about Jonathan's buggy cos her son (5yo) has muscle dystrophy. These are positive sights. Hope to see more special needs in public places.
4 comments:
3 cheers for Jonathan's mummy!!!! The community needs more people like you..
Well done Serene! It takes courage... and am thankful you have that.
Serene
You know how we deal with stares? Just ask them what they are curious about!!! In KL worse still, I think I have only seen special kids twice in my entire life in a shopping mall...the other day I brought Bryant to a shopping center here and one old lady asked my mum why we brought Bryant out when he was having flu...told her that he is different but she still insist he had the flu bc of his red eyes and runny nose! some people...
You are a very brave mom, ignoring all the unfriendly stare and glare fm others but just be a loving mom to Jonathan just like any mom should be. I salute u.
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