Living with and Loving Our Handicapped Children
About the article
A parent of three children with disabilities talks about family experiences. The end of the articles includes a list of 10 ways to help a child with a disability be involved in the ward.
Quotations
We feel that when we know who our children really are, we will say, “Oh, my goodness—so that’s who you are.” And then we’ll think back and hope we’ve made every effort to bless their lives.
After we had been in our new ward for a short time, we were asked to present the sacrament meeting program. We decided to include the whole family. Doug gave a short talk, even though the congregation probably couldn’t understand it all. And Wade, who could not speak at the time, held up pictures as I told a very simple story. We felt very vulnerable, but the members of our ward responded with great warmth and an outpouring of love.
In the early years especially, handling our children in church was very difficult. But we decided that we needed to be there every week and that our children did, too. Our consistent church activity has brought strength and blessings we’ve needed.