BLOG SEPT 29 2021

Bridget Brown

 

One of the most important things I have learned in my life is to celebrate the person you are and your gifts and strengths.

Basically, each of us is magnificent! 

I love the word Magnificent because it means: impressively beautiful, elaborate, extravagant; splendid, spectacular, wonderful, Marvelous and excellent.

 

When you are born with a disability sometimes you don’t think you are magnificent because people focus on your disability and they don’t dwell in the possibilities. They see the disability and not our abilities.

 

When I was born, the world identified me only as a girl with a disability called Down Syndrome and not as a unique person with gifts to share with others

Right away they said that I had a disability so …

·         I needed therapy

·         I needed help

·         I needed an IEP

·         I had limited potential

·         I would not be able to do the same things other kids can do so I needed to learn in a special class & maybe in a different and “special” school.

But my family looked beyond my disability label. They saw my potential and dreamed of possibilities!

THEY SAID:

·         She needs some extra help & it might take a while, but she will fly with full wings.

·         She is magnificent just the way she is.   

·         Her disability doesn’t define who she is, so let’s celebrate her gifts.

·         They realized that we never segregate people we value & they believed that I was a person of value. If I was segregated the world would see me as a person who had no gifts to share with others.

·         They recognized my sacred dignity and protected that dignity.

·         They advocated to included me with all the other kids my age because all they wanted was for me was to be a valued human being in my neighborhood and community.

·         THEY DWELLED In the Possibilities!

SO, if you are a person with a disability, you make sure that you wake up every morning and say to yourself “I AM MAGNIFICENT”.   Remember every day to believe in yourself and be positive and hopeful!

It is easy for people to see your disability first and not your abilities.  You are a person of value with gifts to share with the world.  I think this is the most important thing we can do. 

Continue to share your gifts with the world!

BRIDGET BROWN