I AM NOT A GAMBLER, BUT.............

     I have never met a kid that is more passionate than my Colin. He loves basketball, and when Colin loves something he LOVES it. He loves it with his heart and soul. He also has a plan. He is going to play basketball all thorough middle school and high school and go on and play basketball in college. Oh, not any college, U of M. He then wants to play in the NBA but his back up plan is being a veterinarian. Wouldn't you all love it if your own child was that focused on what they wanted in life?      
     What is wrong with this picture? I think you know the answer. The answer is: the odds are against him. The answer is I don't want to discourage him but I know deep down in my heart, these things will never happen.
      So instead I think of alternatives I can offer. Maybe he can be part of the high school team as a team manager, maybe he can go to some sort of trade school. Maybe he can have his own pet sitting business (he's very good with animals and already pet sits our neighbor's cats). I, of course, never let on to him that these thoughts run through my mind. Instead, I encourage him to always do his best and then try to change the subject. I definitely don't want to discourage him but the real question is: How much do I encourage him?
      Think about it, a "regular kid" you most certainly would encourage them. Not only would you encourage them, you would do everything in your power to help make it happen, right? So your kid wants to play basketball, what do you do? You play basketball with them, you get them on a travel team, you have them practice,etc. They want to go to U of M? you work with them on school, grades, activities,volunteering, etc, all of the things they would need to do to get into U of M. Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't do all of these things for Colin. I'm just saying, How do I do it (when deep down, I know it won't happen) and keep him from having too much confidence and then at some point become extremely frustrated and disappointed? He already asks me DAILY, "Why do I have to be in special ed?"
      What's hard about Colin and his needs is that developmentally he is significantly behind his peers. So even though he is 12 he mentally is more like an 8 year old. He is what we would consider a high functioning CI student. So what this means is, he is aware of his differences yet, he doesn't understand it. So, he knows he is different from his gen ed peers and doesn't understand why. Hence, the daily question, "why do I have to be in special ed?" So more than likely he will not understand why he can't go to U of M or become a veterinarian. But, I'm not even gonna go there yet. I'll save that for another day.