This Father’s Day I was to be all prepared. I knew the day ahead of time and would go shopping on Friday. I wanted to make it special for Alan. Well, Heather called in sick and Jack was not feeling good enough to go shopping so I couldn’t get out of the house and prepare for the special day. I decided to make a card with the help of Jack and Fiona! I’m not a crafty person, I have no restraint and I go overboard whenever I try to make cards for people! I had to cut out the hands and feet that came out the best off the original card because it got really messy! I glued it all to a new piece of paper and it was done! I don’t really know what is supposed to happen on father’s day. Since my dad’s never really been in my life we never celebrated father’s day. There’s no tradition for me to fall back on or recreate, no nostalgia to mine from. Alan didn’t celebrate Father’s day in Ireland, so he has no specific expectations. I think he liked the sentiment and we’ve had a nice relaxing morning so far. The babies are actually taking a nap! Yea! Alan is working in the office and I get my break! Yea again!

Since visiting Early Start last week I have been thinking about language and communication a lot. I was reminded of a fiber artist I learned about a few years back, Judith Scott. Here is her story:

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3563

She didn’t talk and never learned language but had so much to say and expressed it through her making of things. Her case is extreme, who’s to say how her life would have been different if she wasn’t raised in an institution. I’m sure she would have learned to communicate English in some variation. I feel like everyone is beating the drums to a path of “normalcy” for people who are born with other than normal physical expressions of self. The stories I constantly hear about people with hearing loss is how they are living such normal lives, they can talk almost perfect, they have great jobs, they are spokespeople for the hearing impaired community. I think all this stuff is great and agree life is easier if you can speak and write your native language. But what about those that aren’t exceptional in surpassing expectations and becoming mainstreamed? Isn’t there something we can celebrate in their lives? Can we be different and our lives be equally as valuable? I was having this discussion with Alan, I said Fiona might not be able to talk well, you never know. He always gets upset when I say things like this, and he said it was really important that she could talk and communicate in English, otherwise she wouldn’t have any friends. I said does she need friends that won’t take the extra time to try to understand what she’s saying?