Sometimes you have to go to where handicap people are at. Go to them like you would any other person. And for the parents, please teach your kids to be respectful. You may not know where they are at until you find a common ground or until the show emotion. When you do find that certain something, go with it. Sometimes it can be a toy, a story among parents. That toy could be the most obnoxious thing you have ever seen or heard, but that toy could bring the only thing to give comfort and calm the person down. Please be patient and go with it. Other times it could be as simple as letting them watch videos on a phone. That would be much easier to deal with. There are less stares and glares from others over hearing a toy. I am not here to tell you what to do with your life. I just know what works best for me may not work best for you. Sometimes the right thing to do will be the hardest thing to do. I’m going to tell you what works for me- MUSIC. A lot of people have success with music. Anything I can do to help, I will. Whatever is easiest for you in your situation is fine. Somewhere the rules of going out in public and what I like is to getting to be with my parents. They love and need the parents the most. Please know that it is most acceptable right now because its real and its right. Animals also seem to help. We seem to understand one another. The problem with that is that they are bringing their past with how they were treated before hand. Even after they are trained, something can trigger the past and switch on the switch and they can go off on you. I am not saying that animals are good or bad, but I know my dog has helped me. That is what I know. Trust me, I do a lot of things by trial and error. But I don’t like messing around with animals because one person I know had a rough time, they were playing with the dog and the person before this owner must have done something before to the dog. It triggered a bad response and the dog got upset and went off. The dog caused the family some problems. Please try to find out as much as you can about your puppy or dog to know its triggers. That’s why we have not gotten our animals through the pound situation. I only trust places that raise them from a puppy and knows the potential outcome. If any of the dogs trigger something, then you will know and can work with that right away. If you have a problem with them, all you have to do is call them and they will come up with a plan and figure something out for you or take the dog back. They want the best for you and your family. They will find them a different place to live where they will be happy and have a good life and enjoy their life path. The only place that I know that does that is Canine Companions for a new pet. They are also non profit. Not every penny goes to overhead. The headquarters are in California, but they have satellites all over the United States to connect with you. Every dog I’ve had has been through Canine Companions. It is a long application process, but that is so they can get to know the person and the situation. That is how they are able to do such a good job. I have a service dog now through them and he is my 3rd one. Each one the match became better and better. So that’s how I know that they do a good job. Another thing I am going to tell you is that it is not local to this area but, I am sure if you look long and hard that you will be able to find something like it in your area. But that is as far as I’ve gotten. In Shelby County they have handicap baseball. It is a good plug in for handicap children and lets them get out and do something that any other person could do with modifications. The coaches and the board knows what the people are going through. Every player can have a buddy and some levels of handicap can be on their own even if they aren’t going at that level, they can still have a buddy with them. It depends on what their parents are going to want. To have them there and the level of attention is so much of how it will go for the rest of the players. It will be decided on what is best for the people and what is best for the organization. It is kept organized and under control. We do keep records on every person we have just in case something would happen. We do keep the health and well being of our players in mind at all times. We do not play with normal balls, we play with specialized balls and bats. Mostly they are not too hard to the touch. We do require batting helmets to be worn while they are batting no matter what. We do know that there are many times when we know that it is going to be off of a tee and know where it will be going. I know two organizations that do this as well. I had to go to Mercer County for my appearance, but my sister and I saw a need in Shelby County, so we arose to that challenge. It has not been going on because of COVID-19. We figured it would be too hard and too much hassle to keep up with all of the regulations and cleaning of the equipment. If you are anywhere near our location, you are more than welcome. We don’t require anyone to be with in our county specifically. It is just up to the families and how much travel they are willing to do for this opportunity. I know that it is hard to find something you can enjoy and appreciate, but with our organization, it is just as much about the parents as it is about the child. If you would like to check it out, we do have a Facebook page and if you have any questions, please send us a message. We would love to hear from you! Anything we can do to help, we will. Many times I will give my contact information, so feel free to contact me if you have anything you are needing help with or can answer questions. I am ready for this challenge and I am at your beckon call and am not afraid. Ask me what you would like. Please don’t be afraid to reach out, anything I can do to make another persons life a little easier I will. if you have been following me for any time at all, you know that. If this is the first time you have ever read my blog, I encourage you to keep following me or read some of my past blogs. Even if you are not handicap, if you have health concerns, feel free to contact me. I have lots of time on my hands so I am not afraid to do some research for those of you that may not. I know this is a weird way to sign off if you haven’t followed me before, but…
Love your brother in Christ,
Jon
Handicap 