the one message

a different project

Kids Who Are Different
by Digby Wolfe

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids who don't always get A's

The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,

And noses that go on for days ...

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids they call crazy or dumb,

The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,

Who dance to a different drum ...

Here's to the kids who are different,

The kids with the mischievous streak,

For when they have grown, as history's shown,

It's their difference that makes them unique.

The initial idea

There has always been a feeling of impending action on my part right from the beginning, since I adopted Aizer a few years ago on 29th Feb 2012

The main consideration is that we are kind of being a different family, that we obviously look different, me as a single parent, and him being recently diagnosed in Mar 2015 as a Hyperlexic kid (high functioning Autism), who is advance in his early reading and language decoding skills, yet have speech issues and will probably have to deal with social awkwardness for many years to come, if not for rest of his life

99% of all such special needs kids will be bullied by other kids in school, as they lack social skills and will not know how to present or fend themselves.

If one day any of my son's friends is to tease him on why his family is not like the rest, or if he finds it a big challenge to find belonging to friend groups and feeling left out by them, I want to show and reassure him that its "OK to be Different"..

With that in mind, I started this "A Different Project" in March 2015, hoping to gather encouragement from my friends who support us as a different family and agree with this notion that its “OK to be Different”

The present conviction

However, soon after I received the first batch of photos with "OK to be Different" messages from my friends and acquaintances alike, I am moved to hear many beautiful stories that came along..

Some of these heartfelt stories that were shared with me includes :

A mother explained to her son how aizer may be different from other kids, and encouraged her son to submit a photo of himself holding a beautifully hand-written message meant as a support for Aizer, and she took the chance to relate to her son that there is no need to feel too conscious (or getting hurt) about himself being plus size and not feel the desire to appear just the same as everybody else
A very responsible father explained to his two kids on the concept of adoption in a positive light, and made them understand that adopted kids is not different from other kids, that they too do need love and care just like everyone else
An Indian grandmother thanked me for the project as it opens up her heart to accept differeces, and she now embraces her son marriage to a wife of a different race, and started loving her granddaghter of a mixed hertiage

These wonderful stories make me want to extend this project to an international level, to allow this message "OK to be Different" to reach out to any kids (and their concerned parents alike) who may otherwise be feeling weird, miserable, rejected, or even shamed for being commented by others that they are 'different'

It is important to teach these kids to be confident, to take things in stride and be proud of who they really are and not try to be someone else.

For every single kid out there deserves to be loved, no matter who they are, and inregardless of their differences in identify, background, appearance, idealogy or their (dis)abilities

I sincerely hoped this project will help all kids to understand that we are all different and unique from each other, and that makes the world so interesting. It is important for them to embrace their differences and see it as a strength, and use their uniqueness to make a distinction in the world; and at the same time, to never let someone else who's different from others be picked on.

Hope you can appreciate the importance of boosting the signal for those who are outside the "norm", and give us your moral support to help make a child feel great about being unique and uphold their self-esteemm, and for them to feel safe and secure, so that they can learn to trust other people, which allows them to grow up into healthy happy people in the future