There is so much to say to you all, you fierce soldiers of breakthrough. You grow up in the same house as one they call “special,” and that carries more weight than we understand. It means that your parents’ eyes look past you. That we take it for granted that you are whole even when you are not. It means that you give and give and give. Every big sister shares with her siblings, but most of them don’t give away their entire portion. You do it. Often. You watched your brother grow bigger but not older. We had that talk, introducing you to that mysterious word, “autism,” but you already knew something was wrong. When did you figure it out? Was it when you saw other boys trying to play with him? Or when he threw himself on the floor and screamed in the lobby of the bank? I hope it was something like that, and not something we, your parents, did. Because I’m sure you saw the change in us, too. We traded in our laughter for dark clouds and chronic busyness—not just from the doctors’ appointments, but from the other appointments, too. The ones that took our joy and concentration even when we sat next to you on the sofa. To read more click here: http://www.jasonhague.com/2013/02/25/a-salute-to-the-siblings-of-autism/
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Dylan Siegel, 7, would do anything for a friend -- especially if that friend is his best one, 8-year-old Jonah Pournazarian. The pair has been inseparable ever since they met in preschool, when Dylan learned that Jonah faces a rare battle their other classmates didn't -- glycogen storage disease, or GSD, according to LEX 18. The condition causes Jonah's blood sugar to drop to potentially fatal levels, forcing his parents to follow an inflexible, round-the-clock schedule of feeding Jonah through a stomach tube in order to keep his metabolism stable, according to ABC News. GSD does not have a cure. And, to Dylan, that is unacceptable. So, back in 2013, when he was 6 years old, Dylan wrote a book to help his friend and others struggling with the disease. But, it's not your typical page-turner, every penny from sales of "Chocolate Bar" -- a term used by Dylan to mean "awesome" -- goes directly to a lab at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla., which is working on a cure for the disease. "It is now reality. It's not just a dream that these children can be cured," Dr. David Weinstein, who runs the University of Florida lab, told Fox 17. To date, Dylan has raised more than $750,000 in the fight against GSD. Before the money began pouring in from book sales, funding for Weinstein's research was falling flat, ABC News reported. "Chocolate Bar" has given those suffering from GSD renewed hope for a better tomorrow. To read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/boy-writes-book-for-charity_n_4949967.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl28%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D453593 Please visit website Dylan and Jonah's website: http://chocolatebarbook.com/ |
AuthorRebecca is an independent publisher working to help siblings of children with emotional challenges. Archives
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