The Epilogue for Impaired, But Empowered features advice from Walter Ashby for parents of children with disabilities.
Here is some of that advice.
Believe in the intelligence of your child regardless of what standardized tests and “experts” may tell you. Sensory-impaired persons spend virtually every waking minute solving problems. They are constantly forming hypotheses about what they are hearing or seeing and searching for the most appropriate response. How could that possibly help but build mental functioning? The great danger in tagging a youngster with an intelligence rating that is too low is that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Believe in others. Encourage your child to operate from a position of strength when seeking to develop relationships. Teach your child to have self-esteem by striving to be the best possible person. Explain that time spent trying to minimize the appearance of one’s impairment in the eyes of another is generally time wasted. Instead, help them to focus on the reasons why they admire another person and to seek friendship or a romantic relationship with them. Teach your child that most people respond very favorable when other express admiration for them. Instill the truth that conversation is the best tool for developing relationships.
Believe in asking for help. Many people, especially those who have chosen people-centered career, realize the job that comes from helping someone else. Most have given up a more lucrative career to help others. Let them do their jobs. Help your child know the difference between seeking someone to do his work for him and seeking someone to help do the parts he cannot do alone.
Believe in technology. Take your child to visit a center where adaptive equipment in on display. Engage persons at such a center to describe how technology has advanced over the years. Encourage your child to imagine a technological advancement that would make her life better and help her believe that such a breakthrough is possible.
Believe in planning. Teach your child to set goals and strategies for meeting those goals, Use these goals and strategies to achieve bite-sized objectives as a means for illustrating the value of hard work and careful thinking.
Believe the future can be much better than the present. Show your child how rewarding it can be to control much about their own destiny.
Believe in God. Every mature person possessing normal mental faculties has no choice but to live by faith.
Schedule Walter
Schedule Walter, or Walter and his daughter Beth to speak at your next event!
"Walter Ashby has been severely vision impaired his entire life, but he has never let that stop him from reaching his goals and fulfilling his dreams. While many would call him an over-achiever, Walter resists that descriptor. His outlook and achievements are instead a response to the limited expectations of others and the boundless horizons of his God-given potential. Impaired, But Empowered is an inspiring account of how, when you mine the vast resources available to you and have an irrepressible faith to live fully and joyfully beyond the artificial boundaries and limited imaginations of others, you can accomplish anything."
— David Wilkinson, Executive Director/Publisher, Baptist News Global, Winston-Salem, NC.