Never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do.
Twenty years ago, my youngest daughter, Heather’s, two-year-old son, Matthew, was diagnosed with severe autism. She was told by the doctor, he should be institutionalized.
The doctor went on to say Matthew would most likely never talk, be sociable, go to school and learn, nor be able to care for himself. An institution would know how best to care for him.
Heather was understandably distraught and inconsolable. I could hardly understand her on the phone through her sobs as she explained to me what the doctor suggested.
I remember calming her down and telling her: “You have a choice to make. You can let this doctor tell you you cannot raise your son, or you can do everything you can through a mother's love to prove him wrong. Why not do all you can to give Matthew a fighting chance?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. She took it as I thought she would, a challenge. She loved Matty more than life itself and she set her mind. If there was a way to help her son, she would find it.
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