In this issue we turn our attention to children who, though made fragile by handicap, are nonetheless capable of expressing their will in some form. However small that expression may be, we have a duty to recognize and respect it.
Faced with these children, a question demands an answer: is love sufficient?
We believe it is not—unless our love for them becomes so vigilant and provident that it stirs all of us—parents, educators, friends—to stop wasting precious time and truly see the child we are called to help. Not pity him. Not weep for him. Not surrender. Not make sterile comparisons. Not over-protect him. But with courage and a clear sense of reality, undertake with the help of skilled guides the journey toward his greatest possible autonomy:
- as far as he is able—certainly;
- at his own pace, without hurrying;
- with serenity, as much as possible;
- demanding of him all that serves his good;
defending him from exclusion with all our strength; helping him understand, with all the gentleness and tenderness we can muster, that his handicap exists, and that it may be part of his life forever. But that with this handicap, he remains a person of full dignity. And as a person, he is capable of growth and of offering others the fruit of his flourishing.
May the Lord help us never to lose heart on this difficult and demanding road, so often full of unanswered questions. And above all, may he give us the strength to remain faithful in supporting—each of us in our own way—the parents, so they need not walk alone in a task that, alone, they can scarcely bear.
Mariangela Bertolini, 1979