Tall-Tism, Small-Tism, & “Down-Down”

I worked for the SC Dept. of Disabilities for 8 years, and I still have friends there. From time to time, Sarah will overhear a phone conversation with one of them, and she’ll hear us throwing out the names of some disabilities. I also have a cousin whose baby has Down’s Syndrome, so she understands some about that. Loren, my youngest, shows some signs of having a mild case of autism. She’s going to be evaluated later this month, and I‘ve been talking some with family and friends about it. Sarah’s little brain is like a sponge. She just soaks up everything she hears. When we were in the grocery store yesterday, we saw Frankie Weaver, a man that attends my “home church” where most of my mom’s family goes. Sarah has seen him several times when she’s gone to church with my mom, so she recognized him. By the way, Frankie is the uncle of our hometown pride and joy, country singer Josh Turner. So here’s a shout out to Josh Turner, his family (including those down here in Hannah, SC) and all his fans out there. GO JOSH!! We’re so proud of you!!

Anyway, Frankie is REALLY tall. He’s like 6 ft. 4 in. When you’re 6 (Sarah‘s age), that seems like a GIANT. I met Frankie when I was 8, and he was the tallest man I’d ever seen in person. I met him when his sister was my teacher in 3rd grade. When we were loading our groceries in the car, I was telling Sarah how I knew Frankie, how he was Josh’s uncle, etc. Of course we talked about how tall he was. She piped up and said, “Mama, he must have TALL-tism (sounds like autism.) I had to snicker. She just kills me the way she puts things together. A few days later we saw something on TV with a midget, or to be politically correct, a person with dwarfism. Sarah said, “Mama, he must have SMALL-tism.” I shook my head and laughed.

Another night she was telling me how my uncle let her name his cat’s kittens. She named one of them “Down-Down.” Why, you ask? Well what a silly question! The kitten’s eyes are kind of slanted, so he looks like he has Downs Syndrome. I thought I’d fall out the chair laughing at her.