Book about kids with disabilities- Written-off teen proves naysayers wrong
Book about kids with disabilities- Written-off teen proves naysayers wrong
A tall and slim strawberry blonde, Kelsie (not her real name) is a seventeen-year-old high school junior born with Spina bifida, a congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. In addition to her Spina bifida, Kelsie also suffers from brittle diabetes, a type of diabetes that affects less than 1 percent of diabetics and results in debilitating and wild oscillations of blood glucose levels. When not managed properly, it can be fatal.
Despite her challenges, Kelsie is as cheerful as a sunnyside up egg and possesses a smile wider than a Montana sky.
During my initial intake with Kelsie and her family, Kelsie greeted me with an air of friendly curiosity. After asking me a few questions about myself, she announced that her dream was to become a chef and that she was not going to let her disabilities define who she is and what she is going to accomplish in her life. I nodded enthusiastically.
This was my kind of person. You go, girl!
Her mother confirmed her daughter’s career aspirations, letting me know that ever since Kelsie was a toddler, she wanted to be in the kitchen helping to prepare meals for the family of six. Kelsie’s mother also told me, over the years some folks dissuaded Kelsie from following her dream because of her disability, suggesting instead that perhaps Kelsie should be a greeter or bagger of groceries at the local supermarket. Can you believe that?
This infuriated Kelsie’s mother.
During my intake, Kelsie excitedly told me that she was a “foodie” and talked about her culinary interests, her enthusiasm infectious. Then she asked me questions about my favorite foods. I told Kelsie that as a kid growing up, I was fortunate to have had my own personal chef make most of my meals.
Kelsie remarked “Wow!” then glanced at her mother who raised an eyebrow at me. I let the thought simmer for a few moments before I explained that the chef’s name was Chef Boyardee—as in the processed food in a can, that is.
Kelsie gave a snort of laughter then turned to see her mother chuckle.
I reported that I had a strange appetite and an unbridled affection for processed food as a kid and as an adult I’d become Chef Mike-Ro-Wave, as I still tended to eat most of my meals from prepared packages that only needed to be heated. So, I’m the furthest thing from a “foodie.”
Kelsie burst out laughing again.
She then asked me if I ate fish. I replied that I was a connoisseur of two types of fish; Goldfish from Pepperidge Farm and Swedish Fish—the red chewy candies. Both Kelsie and her mother smiled and shook their heads at the joke. I let her know that while my mother was a wonderful person—both kindly and saintly—cooking was not at the top of her list of things she loved to do. And she passed that along to me.
Despite still having the appetite of a seven-year-old boy and my own culinary limitations, I let Kelsie know that during the career exploration process, I’d connect her to someone who knew about finer foods in life.
After some initial research and outreach efforts, I eventually connected with an executive chef at a French restaurant located near Kelsie’s home.
Veronique was born and raised in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France and, during her twenty-five years in the field, worked in restaurants in Paris, Brussels, London, and in New Orleans. She currently owns and operates a successful restaurant and manages a staff of assistant chefs, cooks, and servers.
Veronique agreed to meet with me so I could pitch to her the idea of meeting Kelsie and speaking to her about a career as a chef. Not only did Veronique keep to our agreement, after spending some time with Kelsie and seeing her abilities, Veronique actually offered Kelsie a part-time, after-school paid position working at the restaurant to learn the craft. As you could imagine, Kelsie was thrilled with the opportunity.
So was her mom. So was I.
To prepare Kelsie for the experience, I didn’t sugarcoat the expectations. I let her know that it was not going to be glamorous work; she’d start at an entry level position doing a lot of grunt work, and she’d get dirty and come home filthy and smelling of food. There would be moments of chaos mixed in with times she’d be delirious with boredom while performing humdrum tasks.
Luckily, this was all fine by Kelsie.
I also let her know that if she proved her mettle performing the entry-level work, she’d eventually gain more responsibility.
After her unofficial probationary period of ninety days of work, I photographed Kelsie with Veronique inside the kitchen of the restaurant, with Kelsie wearing her white traditional chef garb and smiling ear to ear. I developed the photo and gave extra copies to Kelsie, instructing her to give those to the non-believers who doubted she could ever do it. After appreciating the gesture, Kelsie hugged me.
As a believer, I kept a copy for myself.
To read more stories about interesting kids with disabilities, visit www.specialstoriesbook.com to learn about the book, “Special Stories: Short Stories On Youth With Disabilities And My Adventures Working In The Disabilities Field” by Mike Kelly (Vendue Books)
https://www.specialstoriesbook.com//wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SS-Understood.pdf
