Gavin McCormack sent me another interesting article on our “Additional Needs.” I actually had never thought of additional needs as negative. However, McCormack’s article caused me to reflect on the fact that a lot of people hate the words “Needs or Being Needy.”
McCormack states that some of the most famous people in the world have additional needs. They give us a new way of thinking, a new perspective, a different point of view.
McCormack states, “Let’s not take those children out of the classroom to a special ‘additional needs’ room. Let’s promote inclusion, diversity and an understanding that we are all on the spectrum somewhere, I mean it’s a spectrum.”
McCormack lists a group of famous people who are on some kind of spectrum such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and so on for people like Spielberg, Harry Potter, etc.
If we take ADHD as an example, we think of children with symptoms like hyperactivity, impulsivity, and distractible. But these children are also creative, fun, generous, outspoken, passionate, humorous, energetic and empathetic people. Let’s appreciate each child as a gift and a joy to our society. We “Need” these children in our lives and I, for one, adore each and every child with “Additional Needs.”
