For most people, raising children seems to be a very linear process; Preschool, grade school, high school, college, marriage and having their own children. We track success against very large milestones. For children living with a disability, it may not be possible to track against those milestones. We may never get to those phases of life. But that is ok, because life is a marathon not a sprint.
Similar to most people living through this pandemic, I am currently working from home. I will admit I am not a fan. Even though this is not my ideal working situation it has given me a chance to hear almost everything that happens during the school day. There are days that Logan requires some help because his paraprofessional is not in our house with us, but for the most part he is very independent. The other day I was sitting in my room working, and I could hear the lesson that was happening in the living room. Time. Logan and his teacher were going over telling time on a clock. Typically this is a skill that would be learned in Kindergarten or First Grade. At first my thought was that he is really behind, but I quickly started to feel really proud. Logan was able to tell the teacher what time it was on each of the clocks. This was a big step.
If you didn’t know Logan and his story, you may think he was really behind the average 18 year old. That is not the case, because this is a marathon, not a sprint. When you train for a marathon it is difficult. It takes hard work and dedication, and it is something that not everyone can do. When I was training for a half marathon it literally took blood, sweat and tears. Lots of tears, but I did it. It is the same for Logan. It takes so much more for him to learn how to tell time than your average student. I see how hard he has to work to do something we typically learn to do at five years old. But Logan has learned to overcome all of these obstacles at his pace. He trains everyday to learn how to do what we take for granted.
All the little accomplishments in life are part of our marathon. Sitting though haircuts, eating in restaurants, telling time. These are big milestones. HUGE. I remember cutting Logan’s hair in the living room when it would take days to finish a haircut. Now, Logan asks to go to the salon and he is happy to have a long conversation with the hairdresser. These milestones are all part of our marathon training, and I could not be more proud of the little things. Not everyone is on the same journey and we need to learn to be proud of who we are, no matter how our marathon training plan is different from others.
Live, Laugh, Logan 