Happy Three Kings Day
Yup- Mateo is Puerto Rican by birth and he spent many years living in Dominican Republic – two countries that celebrate Three Kings Day. I thought this was the perfect day to talk about Christmas Future, or Part 3 of this Autism Christmas Story.
In case you missed the first two parts, you can check them out here:
Autism Christmas Carol – Part 1
Autism Christmas Carol – Part 2
Season of Giving
I won’t get too religious here, but if Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus – God’s gift to us, then Three Kings Day is about celebrating the gifts the Kings brought to Jesus. As we kick off 2021, so happy that 2020 is finally over and optimistic about the possibilities of 2021, I can’t help but focus on the future. What gifts would I love to give Teo, to give to special needs families, to persons with disabilities, and to Belize?
Goodbye 2020
The past year or so has meant so many changes for Mateo and me. We’ve faced lots of challenges with moving back home, leaving his old center where he got great therapy and lots of attention, saying goodbye to his specialists and doctors. It hasn’t just been us facing challenges though. ALL families in Belize and around the world had to face all the changes, restrictions and challenges that came about with COVID. It hasn’t been an easy time for anyone.
Moving Forward
But with all these changes and challenges, I have to admit that I’m cautiously optimistic about where we are now headed. Special Needs Parents in Belize have been coming together to support each other. Health Organizations are meeting to talk about working together to ensure that the agreement that Belize made by signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is met. Government Ministries have also already met with Health Organizations to start the discussion of how we can all work together more efficiently. More and more teachers are signing up for Autism Belize Parent and Teacher trainings to learn more about helping our special needs children. Promising steps, right?
Christmas Future
So what gifts would I love to see Belize get? What do I wish for, for our collective future? Well, first and foremost, greater inclusion for persons with special needs in schools, the workplace, and in society. Yes we may be different, but we all can learn and should get the opportunity to become productive members of our society.
I also sincerely hope that through education and awareness we can make great strides to eliminate discrimination and marginalization of all special needs persons and persons with disabilities.
Finally, I pray that as a country we can focus on building capacity through training, collaboration and development so that we can provide better support for persons with disabilities and their families.
A Belize that is educated and accepting of differences will be a stronger, kinder, transformed Belize.
This might seems like impossible dreams and wishful thinking. Being an autism mom, however, has taught me is that if we want something, we are going to have to focus and work hard for it. Never give up.
For your son/daughter/niece/nephew/neighbor’s uncle’s goddaughter/friend of a friend – for Belize – let’s dream big and work hard in 2021!
