[Adta] An Idea

[Dance2heal2 at aol.com]

Suzy, Dani and all,
 
The "Trip to Holland" piece is a heartwarming essay written by Emily Perl  
Kingsley (in the 1970's, I think) specifically in reference to parenting a child 
 with Down Syndrome. 
 
I don't know how applicable it is to families with children with autism or  
other disabilities; I have heard of a parody essay titled "Autism ain't no trip 
 to Holland" in a feminist mothering magazine ;-)
 
Best wishes for a successful workshop!
Cathi
 
Cathi Teeter McCutchan, MA, DTR
E-mail: _dance2heal at aol.com_ (mailto:dance2heal at aol.com) 
 
****************************************************************************
In a message dated 8/8/2007 8:39:05 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
Kinectionsinfo at kinections.com writes:

Hi  Suzy,
It's a wonderful piece that I have kept in my files for years. If I  find 
it, I will send you the author's name. If I recall correctly, it was  
part of a discussion I was folloing a number of years ago on a list  
serve for families with autistic children. I am pretty sure that I made  
a copy for a student last sumer. The challenge will be finding the time  
to look for it.
Dani Fraenkel



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Previous message:
 
Lori,
I was given this not too long ago- I am passing on to you in hopes  that it 
might help with brainstorming for an experiential. I plan to read at  my 
upcoming workshop for dance teachers, studio owners, creative arts  
therapists, etc... right before we do the Dancing on Wheels session.  
www.adaptivedance.org

-Suzy Rossol Matheson. MA, ADTA,  NCC

Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising  a child with a 
disability--to try to help people who have not shared that  unique experience 
to understand it, to imagine how it would feels. It's like  this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a  fabulous trip--to 
Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your  wonderful plans. The 
Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in  Venice. You may learn some 
handy phrases in Italian. It's all very  exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives.  You pack your 
bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The  flight 
attendant comes and says, "Welcome to Holland!"
"Holland?" you  say. "What do you mean, Holland?" "I signed up for Italy!" "I 
am suppose to  be in Italy." All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.

But there has  been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland 
and there you  must stay.
The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible,  
disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just  
a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you  must learn a whole new 
language. And you will meet a whole new group of  people you would have never 
met.
It's just a different place. It's  slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than 
Italy. But after you've been there  a while and you catch your breath, you 
look around and you begin to notice  that Holland has windmills, Holland has 
tulips, Holland even has  Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy,  and they're all 
bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for  the rest of 
your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was suppose to go.  That's what 
I had planned"
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go  away because the loss of that 
dream is a very significant loss.

But  if you spend your life mourning that fact that you didn’t get to Italy, 
you  may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things 
about  Holland.




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