Have you ever known a family who has learned that it will soon welcome a child with special needs? It could be that prenatal testing has shown a developmental abnormality or it could be that they have deliberately chosen to adopt a child with disabilities. But either way, the family will necessarily undergo a time of preparation as they ready themselves for the inevitable special challenges to come. They will prepare their home, they will prepare their community, they will prepare themselves.

And when the day comes that the child arrives, you may observe that the entire family begins to accommodate themselves to her weaknesses. Not just over the course of her early days but over the entire duration of her life, they give her their help. If she cannot see, they become her eyes; if she cannot hear, they learn to sign; if she cannot walk, they carry her from place to place; if she cannot make decisions on her own, they make them lovingly on her behalf.

You may observe as well that there is a special kind of love given to this one child. The other children in the family may love one another,


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