Gene

Disability never takes a day off, its there every minute of every day. I am convinced that most people I come in contact with, even, I am sorry to say, my unconcerned relatives and friends think that I am only blind when they see me feeling around with my white cane. They have no idea what a blind person goes through every minute of their whole life, especially those who are independent, prepare their own food, take care of themselves completely.

I am convinced that most people have no idea what the person in the wheelchair undergoes every minute of life, needing to use a bathroom at a public place. In 1967, the Beatles' most famous song “All You Need Is Love”; the disabled, the handicapped, need love, but they need much more than love.

So many disabilities are hidden: bipolar, depression, autism. One out of every 100 children born in the world today is autistic, an increase of 600% in the last 20 years. Gene was the first autistic child I ever came in contact with, his mother, her children were probably some of the poorest people I have even known. Her husband had deserted her after the last child was born, Gene. There were two other sons, both unusually bright in every way. The family lived in the poorest of conditions, back then there was no help from the state and not much from any other place. Gene's mother, Gladys, tried to work day jobs around the community, on farms; but Gene was such a problem, and she had no idea at all about his condition. The only thing she knew how to do, in trying to control him, was whip him. His brothers loved him, and did not want to see their mother constantly whipping the child. As is the case with most autistic children, he was too much of a problem to attend school, to attend church, just a constant problem in the farming community.

After the two oldest boys entered the military service, right out of high school, I believe they, more or less, took charge and had Gene institutionalized. I was away in college, the military, etc for so many years that I lost complete contact with the family, I just have the memories from the community, the attitudes of the people in the community, the lack of compassion of anyone, including churches.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if this were a perfect world, everyone healthy, wealthy and wise. But, Satan will stab you in the back if he gets a chance. The autistic child, like the down syndrome child, like the child who is blind, deaf, or in other ways imperfect, is God's gift to the world, and He is testing all of us, to see how we handle these gifts. The autistic child is wired in such a way, that he cannot make much sense out of anything. He cannot sit still, his learning skills are limited, but he has the ability to love and be loved. My medical dictionary defines autism as a disorder of neural development with impaired communication ability, restrictive, repetitive behavior, usually beginning around the age of three. Anyone can imagine the horror story faced by parents knowing they have a child who will never participate in anything, always constantly in need of attention. This child prohibits one of the parent's working, prevents vacations, a continued expense.

We are God's idea, made in His image, His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). We start everyday at the seat of His judgment, each of us different. Perfection is rare among human beings, the mystery of the ages: billions of human beings on this earth, no two alike, physically or mentally, we learn to accept one another as we are, warts, imperfections, as well as the outstanding abilities that many possess. One mother can have a child with a MENSA IQ, another with ambivalent disability, there are not words to describe a mother or father's love for both.

None of these things happen by chance, is it or love or guilt that makes the world go 'round? Is it true that all we need is love? The disabled need help, any place it can be found, parents of children with disabilities need help from the community, especially their church, their pastor, their members. It may be nothing more than keeping watch while a mother has a few hours off to do some shopping. It may mean the church having a place where these exceptional children can be entertained, while parents attend service. Certainly with the taxation inflicted upon working Americans, care for these exceptional children is as important as building public monuments to those who have the ability to succeed: parks, libraries, concert halls, etc.

On a radio talk show, one lady called specifying that any child found to be mentally deficient in any way should be aborted...downs, autistic, etc. I am very familiar with O'berry Center, Goldsboro, NC. One of my aunts worked there as a dietitian most of her working life. This is a place for “throw away” children...macrocephalic, microcephalic, autistic, crippled, etc. She told me that some parents took their disabled child there after discovering the disability and never went back. She said, “it will test your faith that these precious children were so unwanted.” The state would hire older people in the community to act as grandparents to these children, to show the love and attention that grandparents would show their own grandchildren. It was learned long ago, that children will die if not shown affection. Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.

After this woman's pro-abortion talk, I called the program and said, “at my expense, I will take her to O'Berry's center in my nice car and let her pick out the children there she would exterminate.”

Trouble in my way, I have to cry sometimes.
Trouble in my way, I have to cry sometimes.
I lay awake at night, but that's alright;
Jesus will fix it after while.
“Trouble In My Way” – Traditional spiritual