Phillip, our son, craves establishing deep and meaningful relationships. But it is extremely difficult for him. (It is actually difficult for many people, with or without disabilities.) Once he does make a social connection, he explodes with joy. There is a spiritual quality to the friendship that reaches new heights. We have seen it time and time again.
A friend sent this reading to me that seemed so meaningful for Phillip’s struggle and others with disabilities. There is much to be learned.
People with intellectual disabilities are not able to assume important roles of power and of efficacy. They are essentially people of the heart. When they meet others they do not have a hidden agenda for power or for success. Their cry, their fundamental cry, is for a relationship, a meeting heart to heart. It is this meeting that awakens them, opens them up to life, and calls them forth to love in great simplicity, freedom and openness. When those ingrained in a culture of winning and of individual success really meet them, and enter into friendship with them, something amazing and wonderful happens. They too are opened up to love and even to God. They are changed at a very deep level. They are transformed and become more fundamentally human.
Source: “More Important Than Winning”