Long Time No Speak..... Children w/Special Needs....

  I ran into a little girl today.  OK; use the term loosely.  I wander...I digress.  I tend to believe more and more as I Grow older that I truly am an empath.  I want to cry around the frail elderly and have all I can do to prevent it.  Why?  They don't have to be in pain or anything but I pickup on something.  Something about the frailty?  I don't know.  I am a bleeding heart?  I don't know.  Just happens.  I can't help it.  I have spent so much time trying to figure it out.  All that said, back to the little girl.  She was six, I would have guessed five based on appearance.  She was almost without speech.  She hardly talked at all.  She could not talk.  I pondered what her disability might be as "I" "talked" to her....and she "talked" to me.  Her word of the day was "Home".  As she selected something from the shelves (with help) she would try to say "home" and she truly appeared to enjoy my attention and response to her.  So we spent a while at the bookshelves.  Her mother was a little ways down with another child younger and trying to watch them both.  Actually; both appeared to have some special needs...  Something I could not put my finger on.  Conversation with the mother minimally happened and I had an opportunity to query what the situation might be.  I questioned as to whether it was Autism.  The mother told me there was no label for it.  The doctors just did not know.  Further as we were standing there the mother told me that the little girl could see things that almost were not there.  So I watched a little more and realized the little girl from some distance was identifying books by the name on the spine of the book....  As soon as I realized this I told the mother "I think she is recognising words on the spines of the book (from some distance)".  I further told her that several members of my family read as well upside down as right side up!  She had never heard of this.  Anyhow; I pointed out to her that perhaps the little girl (who was obviously bright just could not speak hardly at all) was possibly reading and not only reading but reading sideways and upside down more or less.  Hopefully she will watch some and this will come to be of help.  This little girl was so sweet.  The mother said she had just seen another doctor yesterday, new one, for the first time.  Makes me pensively think how lucky we are with Iris.  How lucky so many folks are.  As that lady left the store, I was thinking...what a job she had....all those special needs children and she seemed to keep it together.  Made me want to give her a hug...

Melody