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Norma, Thank you so much for sharing your story about your smaeowe nephew (we say the guys have a touch of smaeoweness as a diagnosis, which is a different way to think about it!). It's so difficult to imagine going through the diagnosis without the additional information and supports in place we have today (limited though they might sometimes be), but I think it is also important for us to remember. As hard as we fight for change, for our kids to be treated with respect and equity, there was a time when even the progress we've made to this point weren't in place. I have an cousin who has some various learning disabilities (dyslexia, mostly), but is smart as a whip and engaging, open, honest, and amazing. But she grew up in a time period when her diagnoses weren't understood and treated and while she grew beyond those diagnoses, she is still impacted by a society that didn't understand her. Her parents, my great aunt and uncle, have told me stories over the years, stories that both encouraged and angered me on their behalf, and that of my cousin. I share this because it has always encouraged me that despite the odds, some things have always been true a parent that is loyal and supportive, encouraging and positive about what their child can do and firm in their refusal to settle' for what doctors and other so-called professionals might say that parent is one who is as much admired from their 40-year-old stories as the parent who is today navigating the same waters in a different society.
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