Rising Above

Today in one of my classes I taught a little boy named Dustin. He was born deaf and with a depth perception problem. His mother abandoned him and he lived in foster care for four years, where they feed him a bottle and left him in his car seat all the time. He did not learn how to walk until he was four, when an interpreter found him and adopted him. She was a single mother who had all ready raised her children and decided she needed one more. Dustin has learned to sign and is 10 years old now but the size of a 5 year old. He started ice skating two weeks ago, when I met him and he was so grumpy...but who wouldn't be considering all that he has been through. But today he was all smiles when I gave him a ride and helped him learn to slide across the ice like the big boys. He didn't want to leave. I think he is very resilient and inspirational. Since I had my camera still at the rink from last night, I asked his interpreter if I could take his picture and she said sure, he loves to have his picture taken. He reminds me of Simon Burch. So much to learn from this little guy.