Significance of Expectation and Early Exposure to Skills

Reflecting on holiday and birthday celebrations has prompted a realization that I am vastly different than Arjun from 2024, and 2023, and 2022, and so on. My eyes have been opened to the progress I’ve made, and the significance my family’s expectations have had in helping to make it happen. It is normal to have expectations that your child will dress themselves, tie their shoes, eat what is offered to them, be in public without incident, etc. They are basic skills, and everyone is capable of obtaining them. 

I do believe that accommodations are vital to the success of individuals like me who struggle with impulse control which manifests in difficulty completing various tasks the same way and in the same window of time as our neurotypical friends, however; I disagree with the common notion that there is no point working on these skills and the excuses alluding to neurodivergence being a validating reason to neglect them. The term disability is misleading. We do not lack ability, we simply have to approach some things differently than what is standard for others. The disability way of thought adds further limitations to the population of individuals who are already limited by their diagnoses by labeling us as incapable and contributing to the idea that skill training will lead nowhere.

Practice makes permanent, people! It is never too late to tackle a skill that was before thought to be impossible. Holding expectations is not offensive or ableist, it shows that you believe in our ability to be successful in our goals of independence and autonomy. In the same regard, the earlier we are exposed to a skill, the better. Early intervention works because it gives us more time to work and build upon skills. To my peers and their loved ones: don’t let anything hold you back, progress is made by doing, not avoiding. We’ve got this!