Crimson Resort Christmas Session

I first met Kristie back when our little boys went to the same special school. They were classmates! As parents of a special needs child, we would out of the blue message each other and celebrate each child’s milestone as simple as peeing. This might sound so shallow for some, but for us, special parents, it is a huge thing! Little things like going to the loo by themselves or asking them to do things on their own or simply aiming for mastering the activities of daily living.

It’s a hard road to trek and we need all the support we can get. Sadly, we don’t get that all the time even from our own families. Others consider it bothersome while others think an innocent individual is not deserving of their time. Ahhhhh! I can write so many things about my experiences about giving and creating time for a child with needs. It can be so overwhelming, I’d cry myself to sleep. And as special needs parents, I think we have the deepest love we can give others cannot. Because how could you truly understand where we are coming from? Unless, maybe, your heart is genuine and you truly care.

When Kristie asked me if I could do their family session, my immediate reply was of course! Not because we are distantly related but because I wanted to photograph Seth. You see, each child in the spectrum is never the same. Others are sensitive to sound like my Fin, He hates the sound of the drill. He’d hide inside his room, close all the curtains and put magnets to close the curtain some more as if it would help. Seth, on the other hand, dislikes wearing pants. I think my Fin doesn’t like it too. There are many stimuli that start them off. These are the things that we look for closely. Because when we are in a public place, we don’t want to create a scene or be ridiculed by others. That is a reality we constantly face!

This blog post is for you Seth. I wish you and Fin can spend some time playing because, at one point, you wanted to be around each other. I started imagining that as you will grow older, you’d be the best of friends while we adults will try to build a forge to protect you while we are still here.

And for Seth’s mom, I know it’s hard. It’s really hard! But for some reason, I still believe we are one of the chosen few who were given a child-like ours because the love we have for them is like no other. Hats off to you! And like our favorite K-dramas that we often watch to maybe appease ourselves of the hardships we face —– aja aja hwaiting.