Serendipity

Serendipity

by Vig


Thomas is twenty-seven years old, deafblind, developmentally delayed, a little person, and one of the most important people in my life. Thomas came into my world on December 30th, 1990. I was working as a teaching assistant with students with special needs and did some home support on the side. I was called into the agency that I worked for to hear about this medically fragile ten year old who at the time was the size of a three year old and weighed twenty-five pounds. He didn’t see or hear well. He didn’t talk. He could only walk a few steps and he tired out because of serious cardiac problems. I was extremely apprehensive when I went to his house on that December day. Even after many years of working with children with specials needs, I didn’t know what to expect. The picture that had been painted and the reports I read had been bleak. I walked into the living room where he was sitting against the stereo speaker feeling the vibrations of the music - and my heart soared. There sat a very cute young fellow with curly strawberry blond hair, big thick glasses, a sweet face and very worried eyes. I sat down in front of him and let him process and understand that there was someone there. Suddenly his feet were in my lap. I began to rub them. When I stopped he let me know that he wanted more by thrusting his tiny feet into my hands and clapping his hands – his sign for more. Suddenly we had a game going. I rubbed his feet. I stopped. He had to do something to keep the game going. I realized then, that despite what I had read and heard, he was just a kid like any other kid who wanted to play and to connect with other people. From that moment on, I was hooked. I eventually became his school Intervenor (the person who works one to one with a person who is deafblind) for many years. He is the one that has lead me to what I am doing now. I knew nothing about deafblindness before I met him and now I am a teacher consultant with students with deafblindness. Meeting Thomas led me to my heart and back to school to become a teacher and to become a specialist in deafblindness.
Serendipity is defined as the gift of finding agreeable things not sought for. So look back in your life…what wonderful thing has happened to you when you weren’t expecting it or planning it? By meeting one person or going to one event, what did that lead to?