To All,

I recently went to the autisim conference in
Plano, Texas. There is a class called Welcome to Holland.  I dont recall the
name of the speaker but I did buy her tape so that my husband could listern
to it too !
I went to the 3 day conference because of my Autistic daughter I didnt
expect to her about premmies and more.  I cried  til the class ended I still
cry when I listen to the tape.  I just thought we were supposed to go
forward and didnt relize how much baggage we were still  had because of the
birth.  I am going to try and locate the speaker as I would like to talk to
her.

sherrie

mother to Erica 24 weeker age 7, Jordan ft w/autism age 3 , Jared 2  ft
-----Original Message-----
From: BrightIs <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, October 17, 1999 5:23 PM
Subject: Welcome To Holland


>I don't know if you all have read this before, but I came acrossed it =
>while finishing up a 10 hour course for my CDA:
>
>Welcome To Holland
>
>"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a =
>disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique =
>experience, to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.  It's like =
>this...
>
>When you're going to have a baby, it is like planning a fabulous =
>vacation trip - to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guide books and make your =
>wonderful plans.  The Coliseum.  The Michelangelo David.  The gondolas =
>in Venice.  You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.  It's all very =
>exciting.
>
>After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arives.  You pack =
>your bags and off you go.  Several hours later the plane lands.  The =
>stewardess comes in and says "Welcome to Holland."
>
>"Holland??" you say.  "What do you mean Holland?  I signed up for =
>Italy."  But there's been a change in the flight plan.  They've landed =
>in Holland and there you must stay.
>
>The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, =
>disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease.  It's =
>just a different place.  So you must go out and buy new guidebooks.  And =
>you must learn a whole new language.  You will meet a whole new group of =
>people you would never have met.  It's just a different place.  It's =
>slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you've been =
>there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you =
>begin to notice that Holland has windmills and tulips.  Holland even has =
>Rembrants.
>
>But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy and they're =
>all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the =
>rest of your life you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go.  =
>That's what I planned."
>
>And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away, because the loss of =
>that dream is very significant loss.
>
>But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to =
>Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely =
>things about Holland."
>
>Emily Perl Kingsley.
>
>I just loved it.
>Deborah mom of 4
>