Last night after two long days of traveling, I connived my husband into watching "So You Think You Can Dance" with me. It's one of my guilty pleasures. If you've never seen it, there are some really spectacular dancers who show up to audition. Three judges decide whether the audition is worthy of a trip to Las Vegas for further auditioning. I find it to be fairly authentic and serious, as opposed to American Idol (which I still watch, BTW) which is often ridiculous and "fake." Anyway, one of the last dancers to take the stage was a young man named Cody. Cody has Down syndrome, according to his mom who was sitting in the audience. It's the first time I've seen a person with Down syndrome audition for any of these kinds of shows. Cody has some fairly serious speech difficulties, but was able to introduce himself and explain what he was there for--to audition with a hip-hop piece. He then said that the reason he came was that he was a fan of Jason Derulo (one of the dance judges) and that Jason was his big inspiration. By this point, of course, I am in tears. I think John was, too. The music started, and Cody proceeded to perform his hip-hop number. Now I have to say...it certainly was not great. But it was good! The audience was super supportive and cheered for Cody. That was kind of to be expected. But what I loved best was the judges' reactions. They applauded, commended him on his courage, and then went on to explain that the level of competition for this show was above where Cody currently was. But they told him that the Special Olympics was instituting a dance competition, and that he could lead the way when that happened! I loved this! Nobody blew a bunch of fake smoke, to be blunt. They were warm, supportive, honest, and respectful. Nobody spoke to him like a child. They treated him as the young man that he was--a young man who completed a scary audition in front of millions of TV viewers and a live audience; a young man who did a good job and showed courage, but wasn't good enough to continue in the competition. I cried the entire time. But I loved two things about this--1) the way the judges treated him with dignity and respect and 2) what my husband said at the end. He looked at me and said, "We now have a whole new world open to us because of Baby J." WOW! That world has always existed, but I wasn't part of it because I didn't realize I needed to be. Now I do. So thank you Cody for your bravery, thank you John for your insight, and thank you Baby J for coming to OUR family!
"What's it like to have a grandchild with Down syndrome?" "Will he be able to go to 'regular' school?" "Will he ever talk?" "Does he know who you are?" And the first comment many people say when they first hear of Wes's diagnosis: "Oh. I"m sorry." These are all perfectly legitimate questions and comments that I've heard over the past two years. I take all of them as a way that people show they are interested and caring. But I'd like to clarify and explain some things about our little guy. First and foremost, the diagnosis of Down syndrome is not a curse or something to be sorry about. Honest. Wes has developmental delays - not developmental lack of abilities. There is a big difference. And just so you know...he is very, very smart. We were just there over the holidays and his communication skills blew me away. No, he's not talking audibly yet at two years four months. But he is commu...
It really was great how the judges handled it. Very sincere.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete