While riding in the car of the other day with my two grandsons Matt and Jeremiah, I was reminded about how simple relationships can be. If you don’t know, Miah is 17 years old and has Down syndrome. Matt is 24 years old with Down syndrome and some Autistic tendencies. Jeremiah was playing a game on his 3DS and decided to show Matt how to play. Matt’s ability to move things on a computer screen seems to be a challenge for him. However, Miah was going to show Matt how easy it was.
I was listening to Miah give the instructions, and when Matt would perform the task appropriately Miah would say “good job”. I was reminded how simple it is in relationship to just give that positive feedback. We all no matter how insignificant the task performed maybe, or challenging for us, someone just saying “good job” makes you want to try even harder. It always amazes me what I can learn from these two young men that process information in a such different ways. They truly have special need or is it special abilities?
Randel C. Goad – Faculty Supervisor
