Elephants and Wheelchairs

Don’t think about elephants.

Are you thinking about them? Of course you are! It’s hard to not think about something just because someone tells you not to, right?

That’s kind of the way it was for kids in a Sunday school class in Arizona. They spent six weeks learning about disabilities with the Joni and Friends Camp Lean on the Lord curriculum. During that time, they got to hear from Mattie, a young man who has been volunteering in their Sunday school. Mattie can’t walk or talk. He drives his wheelchair by pressing his head against controls on the top of his wheelchair and he uses a communication board to talk. A lot of the kids were nervous around him because they couldn’t stop thinking about the ways he was different than they were!

But that changed when Mattie visited their class and used his communication board to tell them about cerebral palsy (say ser-eeb-ral pal-zy), the disability he has. Once he told them a little bit about his story, they got to ask all sorts of questions about his disability and his wheelchair and his communication board. And now they aren’t nervous anymore! They all want to be his friend! And what’s more—Mattie so enjoys being friends with these kids that he is volunteering in more ways to encourage and pray for others in the church.

So next time you can’t stop thinking about a wheelchair (or the way a person walks or talks), get to know the person and you will probably forget all about wheelchairs (and elephants, too!).