Inspiration....

I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard the phrase "it takes a special kind of person to care for a child with special needs"...When I taught a class at Scott Center for children with multiple exceptionalities, the staff used to joke about the "stars in our crowns" because we had been told so many times that we would have them...stars in our crowns, that is.

I think all of the other teachers felt the same as I did (and do)...it would be the kids who had the crowns and the stars.   None of us felt that we were doing anything that was deserving of crowns or stars for them.  We were doing what we loved and we felt we had the best kept secret in the world.  We were the ones who had the best jobs in the world working with the coolest kids ever and we could never understand all of the fuss.

A child certainly inspired me to be a special kind of person...one who teaches children with special needs.  I suppose it does take a special kind of person to care for a child with special needs...  It takes someone who is willing to be inspired by the child whom we are privileged to care for.  Lynda continues to inspire me even after she is no longer with me on this earth.  She is the reason I aspire to be the best special education teacher that I can be and why I so willingly continue to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Lynda will forever be my inspiration.  She will forever be the reason that I do what I do.