Holly Anissa

angela king - happy birthday sweet anna!!!!!!
what an awesome campaign. what an awesome post. i’ll admit that i’ve been guilty of using the “r” word in the past and reading your post, i feel guilty. i know i meant no harm by using it but i see that it does cause harm to others. i’m sure you cringe the same way i cringe when someone uses the word gay out of it’s intended context. i am going to rid this word from my vocabulary. for anna and everyone else in the world that it may hurt. thanks for opening my eyes holly.

Dawnn Thornton - I commend you on taking a stand for your daughter, and many other children, teens and adults. I too have a special needs daughter. We have been through some of the roughest times of our lives, and have always had the most loving, friendliest angel to lift our spirits up while we were feeling bad for ourselves. We don’t have an actual name for what is wrong with my daughter though, which makes it hard to know how to care for her properly, so we do the best that we know how, and with the tools that we have been taught and learned along the way. She was born with bi-lateral clubbed feet, and was casted and braced for the first 3 yeafs of her life…she actually learned how to walk at 3 years old, with bent knee casts up to her hips, with a Dennis Brown bar between her legs connecting both casts. That is when we knew, that she would be teaching us some very important life lessons, which was, there was nothing that can hold you down, except yourself. She also has seizures, though hers aren’t too dibilitating….she has focal seizures, however, the older she gets, the less we have seen them…so we are hoping, that she is growing out of the. We have been to every specialist, and has had so many tests done…and always with a smile on her face. I have had her in school since she was 2.5 y/o, and love watching her learn new things every day. She has the vocabulary of a 3 year old. 2e work with her daily, and she is in speech therapy twice a week. I was in a car accident when I was pregnant, and the doctors think that she received a traumatic brain injury in utero, which they call a Diffuse Brain injury. But anyhow, now that you have an idea of her back ground….just like you said about Anna….my daughter Kaydence Grace, knows no stranger, and believes anyone she comes in contact with is her best friend, which can be extremely terrifying. This day in age, there are bad people out there that can and will take of advantage of that, whether it be pedophiles, or people taking advantage of her when she is older, be it financially, or play off of her friendliness. She is mainstreamed in her school where she does everything, except math and reading with typically developing kids her age, and then a special class for her reading and math. They typically developing children have taken her under their wings. They know something is diefferent with her, but when walking from classes, to the bus, ub luvh or recess, they make sure no one else messes with her, and also they make sure that she stay with her classmates, and doesn’t run off. They are her little guardian angels. I have heard the “R” word on too many occasions, and it gives me the chills, and physically makes me ill when I do hear it. I too used the word as a child and a teenager, but never directly about someone…I would use it as a adjective to describe something…ever since I had my daughter, I. Have removed that word from my vocabulary. My daughter has taught my husband and I and everyone she has ever met to be patient, to love unconditonally, and to love with every ounce of ourselves. She has also taught us, that no matter how tough life is, it can and will be OK, and just have faith. When we first realized something was different with her aside from her clubbed feett, my husband and I went through a “why us, why her” phase, and we learned that God, saw something in him and I, and gave Kaydence Grace to us for a reason, and hat God, doesn’t give angels like her to just anyone. He gives angels like her to special parents. We have learned so much from her, and I certainly will be passing this info along to spread the message that the “R” word hurts people, and its not just the person that is disabled…it also hurts all the people, family members, friends, and loved ones that have a disabled person in their lives. There is no love greater that the love that we receive from her. Also, we have a almost 3 year old son, that is already super protective of his big sister, when neighborhood children leave her out from playing, or say mean things, and upset my daughter. I can only imagine when he is older, what he will say or do to protect her.

Thanks You for letting me speak about my beautiful daughter. She is my world.

Mom of Kaydence Grace(8y/o), and Huntley Dail(3y/o)

Dawnn Thornton
Sutherland, Virginia
31y/o

Lauren - Happy happy day to your whole family! This was such a beautiful post to read. So heartfelt and moving. I almost don’t have the words for how it touched me. I truly appreciate how you take a stand not just for your kids but for all kids who struggle. I admire you (all of you) so much. xo Lauren