Inspired to Write by Inspiring Kids
A month ago, a friend shared home videos of her young daughter, born with cerebral palsy and wheelchair-bound, proudly walking on a treadmill. I replayed the video repeatedly. Watching every step, repeatedly. Her pride and joy shined in every movement. This little dazzling girl also plays special hockey. In another video, you can hear the bleacher crowd cheering her name when she scores a breakaway goal. Both team benches rose to celebrate — when do you see that in most sports? Scoring goals on and off the ice is the definition of her game plan.
This same girl, with a million-dollar smile, is the inspiration behind the storybook character in my latest installment of the Drop the Puck chapter book series. She was gifted the book from a prominent NHL family and her family contacted me after reading the first two books and her love of hockey, reading and grit and determination.
After writing the 2013 USA Fiction Book of the Year, Capitol Hell, I shared my bucket list goal of writing a children’s book. At first puck drop, I thought the children’s book would be a picture book of hockey for a preschool reader. Instead, this lawyer trained writer, had difficulties telling a story without words, reality and sharing the light.
Fast forward, four years later and now writing the sixth installment in this young reader series, all the books took a unique turn. They are all based on real life inspiring kids—all kids. Hockey players, young driven entrepreneur types, spunky and shy to outgoing. Everyone plays the game of hockey; everyone is given the spotlight. There time to shine and be them.
It all began as my daughter taught me a life lesson. While sitting at a hockey game, she informed me correctly that not everyone had my background as a kid. She was correct. My mom managed group homes for individuals with disabilities and the residents became a part of our extended family. Inclusion wasn’t a word; it was what we did.
Emily inspired me to write about inclusion in an unprecedented manner. The series has five characters, inspired by real kids, with special needs. From Down syndrome to autism, inclusion is a way of life in the Drop the Puck series. It’s authentic. It’s our world. It’s their world. It’s the best thing I’ve done in my career and brings such joy to meet all the inspiring kids—face-to-face.
We know that over the next 10 years, 500,000 young adults with special needs will become adults with special needs. As they grow older, many approach adulthood without continued access to the kind of services they routinely received as children. From physical chronic health to behavioral health challenges, adults with special needs need our help, increased access to therapeutic programming, like adaptive sports and special hockey, and enrichment to their lives.
Special hockey, in addition to physical hockey skills, emphasizes the development of desirable individual characteristics such as lower stress, dependability, self-reliance, concentration, willingness to share and personal accountability. The athlete isn’t the only winner in this game. Serving as a volunteer mentor or coach will make you happy, feel rewarded and increase your health benefits. Together, we learn the importance of practice, hard work, determination, goal setting and … inclusion.
Arguably, the most valuable benefit of adaptive sports for all. Inclusion rests on the idea that every individual, regardless of disability, has the right to be incorporated fully into the fabric of society. All athletes can be a part of their communities developing a sense of community, a purpose, while providing all of us an opportunity for treasured friendships.
We’re all on the same team — the jersey on our backs — are for the team of inclusion. If we want to change the societal narrative about what people with disabilities can do, we must step up with our game faces on.
Be the game-changer. We need to change the paradigm about what people with intellectual developmental disabilities can do. The new universal language of love.
The love of the game.
*Jayne J. Jones, of Nokomis, FL, is the author of “Drop the Puck: Hockey Every Day, Every Way.” The book is the fifth in a series she has written. Jones is reachable via www.officialadventures.org
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
