My Challenged Friend

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Learning from My Mentally Challenged Friend

From the time I was two years old until I was about seven Steve had been my best friend. He and I went over to each other's houses all the time. At that age I was very friendly and loving to everyone but very over-active. I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) so I was boisterous and restless. Everything was great until second grade when Steve's parents began to dislike my behavior because I was so "hyper." That's when they wouldn't let Steve be my friend anymore and eventually he was forced to cut off contact with me.

This broke my heart and I would have been able to get over it without too many scars; if the rest of the kids had liked me. But they didn't. No one would play with me at recess and no one would ever come to my house. I began to get very depressed. My teachers were not aware of ADHD and were extremely critical of me and insensitive to my disability.

It was then I was approached to help Freddie, who is mentally challenged, prepare for the upcoming "Challenger Little League." In the league disabled children play, and "normal" kids act as their "buddies" to help move the game along. Freddie's mom and mine thought it would be a good idea because I would be helping Freddie get ready for the league, and doing something for Freddie might make me feel better about myself.

Since then we have been playing ball each fall and spring at his house once a week. In that time I have grown to know him as a person, his likes and dislikes. He has a strong personality that contradicts the image I had of kids with mental disabilities. I had imagined that they were essentially passive showing only faint recognition and response to anything happening in the world around them. And while this may be true for some severe disabilities, Freddie interacts with his environment just like I do. We just have different obstacles to face, different disabilities to overcome.

While Freddie and I threw the ball around in the backyard, I developed a genuine friendship with him like I would have with any other kid I knew. That is why I enjoyed going over to his house.

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