WELCOME TO HOLLAND!
The Cerebral Palsy Association of Western Australia Ltd published an excellent description of what it is like to be a parent of a child with a disability in the November 1994 issue of the newsletter “Brand News”. It is highly recommended that all relatives and friends read the “Welcome to Holland” article by Emily Perl Kingsley. A copy of “Welcome to Holland” is included here for your interest.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley. ©1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.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’s 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 arrives. 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! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to 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 guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And 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 Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
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 had planned.”
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away… because the loss of that dream is a very 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.
FURTHER INFORMATION: If you would like any further information or if you would like to talk about the contents of this brochure, then please contact one of the Social Workers at the Cerebral Palsy Association of WA on (08) 9443 0211. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Not-for-profit organizations can reproduce this booklet on the condition that they acknowledge the Cerebral Palsy Association of Western Australia Ltd (the “Association”) in so doing; and that it is not used to generate funds in any way; Anyone seeking to reproduce this booklet in whole or in part for the purpose of sale, hiring or other commercial venture must seek written permission from the Association; The Association will bear no responsibility for any costs associated with the electronic postage or processing of this booklet. The Cerebral Palsy Association of Western Australia Ltd 106 Bradford Street Coolbinia Western Australia 6050 Australia Telephone: 61 9 443 0211 Facsimile: 61 9 4447299Popularity: 8%
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