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This writing that I begin tonight is a topic very near and dear to my heart. Why tonight ? Well, I just read an article that a friend had on Facebook. The article was about an actor of the theatre who had a special needs child at the afternoon matinee who became difficult with his parent and was yelling during the show.
The actor wrote a beautiful editorial after the fact not complaining about the fact that this women brought her child to the show rather he took the audience to task over their rude actions and yelling at that mother. Many in the audience did not give one thought to what that mom was going through.
I thought it was beautiful for him to try and give a perspective of charity and concern for someone else’s plight. I commend him for his good effort in educating once again. It is not all about each one of us always. We are a connected society with a diverse populations living their own daily victories and struggles.
This subject is near and dear to me because I have a special Nephew who is one of my favorite people on this planet. I have witnessed the crass treatment that my brother, his wife and family have endored because Stevie is special.
Through hours of praying over this situation I told my entire family years ago that these special children/ people are gifts from God. Since I was a young child I have always felt a deep level of compassion for these special individuals.
We as a society have to stop looking at Special needs children as a nuisance, an obstruction to our lives and see the beauty , kindness that they bring us.The undeniable fact is that they are some of our best teachers.
These beautiful children / people challenge us in so many ways. Not because they are terrible but because they do not connect with their emotions in a conventional way and because of that fact they can get fearful.
I believe that God uses these special people to teach us patience, love, charity, and they force us to be bigger and better versions or ourselves.
I have watched my brother, his wife, children, and all family members pull together around my incredibly beautiful , non judgemental nephew.
He has a life of suffering with his ailments and is as my mom used to say “is our love”. Guess what? He is, Stevie also makes us laugh because he is very funny. He is very smart but processes information differently.
I could tell stories of horrible discrimination against him and his family and I was witness to one terrible encounter on a plane trip we took on vacation a few years back.
I will see if I can attach the article that I read this evening on to this blog post. It was written that well.
My mother always said …… I have 13 grandchildren and I know for sure that Stevie is truly going to heaven.
There have been many shared and private tears shed by all because of Stevie’s difficulties. Stevie never complains he will smile and hug us no matter what. If we look sad he will come and stand with you, quietly looking at you So compassionately,so lovingly.
When I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer he wanted to take care of me. He made his mom take him out to buy me anything and everything. He did not run from the fire he ran into it and wanted to help uncle Danny. He was in and out ,up and down getting me water snacks just sitting and watching me. I was forced to rise from self pity to be what he needed and deserved and I love him so much for being my buddy.
He has little quirky things he does at times and sometimes does not want to cooperate with the plans that we have for him .
One time one of my brothers friends said it too bad you have been burdened by having your son with his difficulties.
My brothers response was typical for my big brother he said,
Really? I don’t look at Stevie that way. I think he is the biggest gift that God gave my entire family. Stevie is love.
Another thing that Stevie brought to our entire family while teaching us the importance of the simpler things in life is that we needed to firm our foundation of faith up. We have all done that up over the years. Thank you Stevie, thank you God!
One thing, I will tell you is this. There are no and will not be any Riley victims. We will not be victimized by special needs, cancer or any other thing that befalls us.
We are in the battle but Jesus already won the war.
For my brother Steve and is beautiful wife Nancy. Two better parents you cannot find. xo. You inspire us all. 🙂
God Bless You,
Danny
The article mentioned in this blog is below..
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Broadway actor Kelvin Moon Loh came to the defense of a mother and her young son sitting in the audience of “The King and I” after the child disrupted a matinee performance in September 2015. The woman’s son began crying and screaming during a particularly emotional scene. The mom tried to calm her son, but soon the audience grew angry and heckled her, some called for her and the boy to be removed from the theater and others were heard asking “why would you bring a child like that to the theater?”. Embarrassed, the mom and boy left the theater after a few minutes.
It turns out, the boy happens to have autism. The crowd’s reaction did not sit well with the musical’s lead, and Loh took to Facebook to express his feelings about the incident and to champion the rights of autistic children and parents of children with autism to be allowed to visit to the theater like anyone else. His passionate post has no doubt won him new fans.
Loh wrote:
“I am angry and sad.
“Just got off stage from today’s matinee and yes, something happened. Someone brought their autistic child to the theater.
“That being said – this post won’t go the way you think it will.
“You think I will admonish that mother for bringing a child who yelped during a quiet moment in the show. You think I will herald an audience that yelled at this mother for bringing their child to the theater. You think that I will have sympathy for my own company whose performances were disturbed from a foreign sound coming from in front of them.
“No.
“Instead, I ask you- when did we as theater people, performers and audience members become so concerned with our own experience that we lose compassion for others?
“The theater to me has always been a way to examine/dissect the human experience and present it back to ourselves. Today, something very real was happening in the seats and, yes, it interrupted the fantasy that was supposed to be this matinee but ultimately theater is created to bring people together, not just for entertainment, but to enhance our lives when we walk out the door again.
“It so happened that during “the whipping scene”, a rather intense moment in the second act, a child was heard yelping in the audience. It sounded like terror. Not more than one week earlier, during the same scene, a young girl in the front row- seemingly not autistic screamed and cried loudly and no one said anything then. How is this any different?
“His voice pierced the theater. The audience started to rally against the mother and her child to be removed. I heard murmurs of “why would you bring a child like that to the theater?”. This is wrong. Plainly wrong.
“Because what you didn’t see was a mother desperately trying to do just that. But her son was not compliant. What they didn’t see was a mother desperately pleading with her child as he gripped the railing refusing- yelping more out of defiance. I could not look away. I wanted to scream and stop the show and say- “EVERYONE RELAX. SHE IS TRYING. CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT SHE IS TRYING???!!!!” I will gladly do the entire performance over again. Refund any ticket because-
“For her to bring her child to the theater is brave. You don’t know what her life is like. Perhaps, they have great days where he can sit still and not make much noise because this is a rare occurrence. Perhaps she chooses to no longer live in fear, and refuses to compromise the experience of her child. Maybe she scouted the aisle seat for a very popular show in case such an episode would occur. She paid the same price to see the show as you did for her family. Her plan, as was yours, was to have an enjoyable afternoon at the theater and slowly her worst fears came true.
“I leave you with this- Shows that have special performances for autistic audiences should be commended for their efforts to make theater inclusive for all audiences. I believe like Joseph Papp that theater is created for all people. I stand by that and also for once, I am in a show that is completely FAMILY FRIENDLY. The King and I on Broadway is just that- FAMILY FRIENDLY- and that means entire families- with disabilities or not. Not only for special performances but for all performances. A night at the theater is special on any night you get to go.
“And no, I don’t care how much you spent on the tickets.”
Since the initial post, Loh’s message has received 31,000 shares. Hopefully Loh’s message will resonate with people and make people think twice about judging others at public events and to maybe think about responding with compassion rather than anger.
Share Loh’s message with your family and friends!
Just Danny Speaks 