The Explorer's Club: Raising A Son With Special Needs

Willie was invited to a dinner at The Explorer's Club in New York City with several members of his community from The Camphill Special School.  Guy, The Director Of Development, called me yesterday to ask if I would allow him to go. I, of course, said yes!

I cannot stop thinking about this exotic adventure Willie will take tomorrow. But really I can't stop thinking about how the world of Special Needs fits together with a club recognizing and honoring fantastic explorers. I mean I understand that The Explorer's Club trip is a Fund-Raising Mission.  But how do "Disabled Children" intersect with gifted adventurers of our world.

First read about The Explorer's Club:

"Founded in New York City in 1904, The Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. The Club’s members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the moon—all accomplished by our members."

And then read the Mission Statement of The Camphill Special School:
"Camphill Special School’s mission is to create wholeness for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities through education and therapy in extended family living so that they may be better understood and their disabilities moderated, that they may more fully unfold their potential, and that they more fully and meaningfully participate in life."

What these two Organizations do have in common is to explore something new that hasn't been discovered before. And I know what the Camphill Special School has recognized what is new: That Children with Disabilities are a gift on earth and have lessons to teach us.  This sounds so canned, sappy, and new-age, but it is the genuine perspective at the school. I have lived it for the past 5 years. 

Willie is a teacher as well as a student at this very, fabulous school. Through brave exploration, the teachers at the Camphill Special School have found a Willie we never knew.  They were the first to show us that our son can teach us all about patience, accountability, the meanings of success and progress, healing through imagination, compensation strategies, true intimacy, the power of love, to name a few. 

So Willie will be proud to visit The Explorer's Club tomorrow. To be the only student from school in attendance. To adventure to New York City. To meet lots of new people.  And of course to eat a gourmet dinner. But in his own right, Willie travels to The Explorer's Club as a messenger and an ambassador of the "True Explorers at the Camphill Special School."

To learn more about the Camphill Special School, go to www.camphillspecialschool.org