Not Part of the Cool Kids Club

I was in a meeting yesterday. I am realizing that these meetings are tense for me because usually something like this happens... The topic of the meeting turned to our kids and that our kids "need" to grow up and go out on their own versus us perpetually taking care of them (one person has kids who are young adults and pretty dependant on their parents). Discussion insinuated that this is the way of life and the only way things go. I was just struck with how many assumptions are out there - thinking that this will happen for 100% of the people in the room. I don't know what the future holds. Hopefully Quinn can be independent. But maybe not. Let's be realistic, Quinn is even behind her peers with Down syndrome. She has epilepsy which is impacting her development. How can I assume anything? I need to wait and see. But at the meeting I realize that I don't fit in with the supposed "cool kids." The cool kids who think they have it all figured out. I am an outsider who has a different experience. An experience that they really don't want to hear because it scares them. It challenges their assumptions and that is just not a place they want to go. Disability is diversity and when you really start looking around you see that you can feel different in a lot of places - assumptions are everywhere. However, in this case I actually would rather not be part of the cool kids club. If I was, I would have never have gained this new perspective and I would be blind to a whole segment of life.

-Karyn