Preconceived notions

Preconceived notions or not?

Today I saw the fantastic video with Susan Boyle (of Britain's Got Talent fame) singing her song to the judges.  I watched in amazement as to how she was viewed by the audience as someone who could note accomplish her dream!  Now I have seen this video many times before but the depth of the moment was an aha!

Here was this person that by her looks, dress, and other features was viewed as someone who would have zero chance of anything, let alone singing an impressive song the way she did!

This aha moment lead me the thought of why? Why do we pre-judge someone and their abilities? We are automatically filled with what can't be done instead of what is possible!  I see it when people see Josh's wheelchair instead of his light up the room smile.

The truth is...possibility is what drives us.  It makes us get out of bed to take on the day ahead. To move forward even if it is only a centimeter to get better. Actually, to be better than the day before.  It drives ALL of us!

Which brings us back to the topic at hand, special needs.  We are set to judge that this community is less than... when actually it is more than what it seems! I have seen the community with special needs have all the same feelings and thoughts as the abled people around them.  Yet we still judge as less than.  My dream is that we have the opportunity to be treated equally and with a little help and patience.

We as a real estate community have a responsibility to help all live the dream of home ownership.  Families with special needs have the same wants and desires, so slow down take your time and keep asking the big questions to help this community make the home ownership process possible.  A little empathy (but no pity) goes a long way.

As Gary Keller reminds us in his book, The One Thing, no one succeeds alone! That is true for the community with special needs AND the fully abled around us.

I wish it was all…

I was having a conversation with my son, Josh, today.  It was fascinating!! Why?  Because though Josh has limited verbal skills he has a high level of comprehension and communication.  Most people don’t see it at first but if you spend one-on-one time with him his personality comes shining through!

During our conversation Joshua asked and though it would be neat if the world could be completely wheelchair accessible.  Wow, I was blown away by this.  He made it clear that it would just be easier if EVERYTHING was wheelchair accessible so he could go where he wants when he wants!  I held back the tears and said, yeah Josh, that would be awesome and I wish we could make that happen too. He verbalized a loud yeah and smiled.  The other thing that shocked me was the Joshua did not wish he could walk because he said that he has walked many times in his dreams and being in a wheelchair at times has its advantages.

The conversation then turned to labels.  We discussed how he wished people did not give the word “special” or “special needs”.  Though he likes the extra attention he gets sometimes he also asked that all labels be dropped.  Another wow moment.  I agreed, we all use labels as descriptors for various scenarios.  Joshua stated very clearly that he wanted the label to describe him to be dropped.  He just wanted to be accepted as Josh.  Not Josh who is special or Josh who uses a wheelchair.  In fact he wanted what we all want to be treated fairly and honestly like everyone else.  What an awesome goal.  This conversation was so enlightening because he was so excited and started to verbalize answers to questions so he is very passionate about becoming “unlabeled”.

What did I learn? Joshua keeps amazing me.  His wanting to be accepted as a productive member of society is growing and growing. He wants to shed his “label”.  Josh expects you to treat him as Josh a 12 year old. He is NOT letting his limits define him. 

So I ask you look at yourself, what labels are you putting out there? Can you shed them?  Can you drop all labels and look at creating opportunities for ALL in your community so that we can make the steps to make the world really accessible!!

Joshua is all in, all the time! Please join us to make it happen.