Siblings Will Show You The Way

I think the number one question I receive from parents is, what should I tell my kids about Jack? Should I tell them that he has Fragile X or should I just let them explore the situation on their own? I don’t know the right answer to that. I don’t know if there even is a right answer to that question. But I can tell you that we talk about being different a lot in our family. We talk about how we were all born with different noses, different shapes to our faces and different eye colors all of which are completely out of our control. Our outsides are different. So are our insides.

Sometimes, the things that make us different on the inside can make some things harder for us than for others; like throwing a ball or writing our name, or walking or talking. It can make it harder, but not impossible. Sometimes, the way we were created on the inside gives us super powers like being able to feel emotions stronger than anyone in the room. Or hear ALL the sounds in the room at once. This is how Nolan and Neva understand Jacky’s “broken X.” It makes some things a little (or a lot) harder for him, and makes him a super hero in other areas. Nolan made a documentary about Jack this past Fall. The kids were asked to think about heroes in our community and Nolan, perhaps because of conversations that we have had before, decided to film his brother. Please enjoy Nolan’s JackUmentary.

XO