You've Got This

In my last post I mentioned that we are certainly living in uncertain times and that continues to be the case.  Daily, it seems, that we are faced with a new dose of reality, that changes the way we interact with the people in our communities, and maybe even our own families.  It is a time of uncertainty, even possibly a time of feeling overwhelmed, and of not knowing where to turn or what will happen next.
 
I have been thinking about that a lot lately.  Especially for those of us whose loved ones may face additional impacts, either to their health, or perceived loss of education- at times this just seems like too much.
 
But we can look at this another way as well.  We can dig deep and recognize that we can do this because we have done it before.
 
As a parent you will have received a pre-natal, post- natal or pre- adoption diagnosis.  As an educator, you may have known nothing about Down syndrome or autism, or whatever learning challenge your student faces daily, or maybe too much following old paradigms.  The truth is that upon joining our lives alongside one with Down syndrome or another struggling learners, we all faced unexpected challenges.  We all have been in the path of experiencing life differently than we had planned, and have learned new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, even, and made that part of our current daily “normal”.
 
So do that again my friends.  Dig deep, back to the time when you first heard the diagnosis of Down syndrome applied to someone you would join alongside, or learned something new about someone you love, and as you do, know that this time, you’ve got this- because you have done it before, and can absolutely do it again!