Thursday, March 4, 2010

Dress Rehearsal: R-word speech


Kevin had to do a dress rehearsal today at school for the speech he's giving tomorrow evening, and apparently it went really well. When I picked him up from school this afternoon, he was beaming. I asked him how it went (as practice, he had to give his speech in front of the entire seventh grade) and he said, "It was really impactful, Mom!" (I swear he used that word!) He said that during the speech, a lot of kids were giving him thumbs up, and afterwards several kids made a point of telling him how "awesome" they thought his speech was. A few kids told him that they have siblings with autism or other diagnoses, and that they understood exactly what he was talking about. One girl said to him, "Wow. I am never going to use that word ever again." When he told me this, I was just overcome. This is what it's all about - making a difference. Another kid told him that it was the "second best speech" he'd ever heard, the best being Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech.

I'm so proud of that boy. And I can't wait for the real thing tomorrow evening!

8 comments:

Monica Crumley said...

That's really impressive, Kevin. I wish you lots of luck tomorrow! You're already making a difference.

Stephanie said...

That's wonderful! What a fine young man you're raising Lisa.

chris said...

Sounds great!
Good luck tomorrow, Kevin!

BLOOM - Parenting Kids With Disabilities said...

Yeahhh!!!! I can't wait to hear about the big night tonight.

Lori said...

That is so awesome, and so encouraging! Sounds like you have quite the kid there, impacting the future generation in such a great way! I am certain the real speech will be even better!

heidi marie said...

what an amazing son you have. we are all so proud of you kevin!!!

Crittle said...

So exciting! I wish I could be there to see it in person.

today's word verification: ulisa

As in, "I <3 u lisa." :-)

M.Hilton said...

What a great, brave, boy - and what fantastic peers to cheer him on! so encouraging!