With all the depressing and heartbreaking challenges we face, I really feel blessed. These blessings come in different packages, some a bit unassuming.
Take Maggie for instance.
Maggie’s been with us for about 4.5 years now. We came upon her by chance. Lizze saw a picture of her online and instantly fell in love with her.
She was at the Greater Akron Humane Society and had been there for almost a year because no one wanted her. Apparently, Maggie had been seized during a Police raid of a large fighting ring.
Maggie had been abused and to this day, still has scars from multiple cigarette burns.
She was a fighting dog, a breeder and was pregnant at the time she was taken in by the Humane Society. After her litter was born, she sat there for a very long time because people judged her solely based on her appearance.
Lizze and I called to see if she was still there and she was. We immediately made our way to see her that night and that’s how Maggie became part of our family.
The reason I’m sharing this is because I was reminded today, just how easy it is to make judgements based on what you see on the surface. Think about it. Our kids with Autism are judged all the time, based solely on their behaviors or challenges. As parents, we are constantly being judged as well.
Most people will never know what lies beneath the surface because they don’t bother to look.
As with Maggie, no one gave her a chance because they made assumptions about her based on what she looked like and completely ignored her heart.
If they had given her half a chance, they would have seen that Maggie is one of the sweetest, kindest and most gentle creature to ever walk the face of this Earth. She’s adopted our kids as her own and is fiercely loyal to her family. She endures rough housing from the boys and never bats an eye.
Her favorite thing in the world to do is climb under the covers and simply lay next to one of us.
I can’t help but feel grateful for her being a part of our lives. At the same time, I feel bad for everyone that chose not to give her a chance. They’ve missed out on a wonderful friend.
Can you see the analogy here? Can any of you relate to this?
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Beautiful analogy and a good one to boot. People don’t bother to look beyond the surface level b/c that takes time and effort, something many people do not want to invest. And oftentimes I have found that people prefer it this way because they are made uncomfortable when they encounter anything that challenges their opinions and beliefs. They do not want to have to reevaluate the way they think and behave, so they choose not to.
And it’s sad. People look at our kids and automatically think they’ve seen enough to know it all. A picture is already formed in their minds, albeit an inaccurate one. Our kids are smarter than people give them credit for. They’re capable of more than what people would typically expect. They just need love, patience, and understanding to reach their true potential, whatever that may be.
AMDuser ErikaLowery Maggie is an English Staffy. Bella is our pure bred Boxer. 🙂
I know the judgments because I heard them about for example of the pit-bulls, Dover man, Rots, etc. breads and also others. People see bit bulls in a bad light because of what the media shows to the world but I have seen the other side of pits and Dovermans, I have ment pits that would just want to lick you to death and I have a doverman that just wanted to lay down and be petted all day.
I seen the same judgement from some people about people on the autism spectrum think that they are dump, stupid, waist of space, but I say the worst thing is those people have is a form of ignorance.
Is she part boxer? I have fallen in love with boxers since our little girl (boxer/german shepherd mix) became part of the family. She has helped her “big brother’s” language bloom. He tells her everything now. And you are right, they put up with so much rough love without any question.