When I was deciding what has had the deepest impact on me, I thought for sure I was going to write about a book. Over the course of my lifetime, I have read some amazing books that have truly impacted my way of thinking. While deciding which book to write about, I kept thinking about a movie that I saw called The Miracle Worker. This movie is absolutely amazing; there is so much that can be taken from just watching it. The story of Helen Keller is an inspirational story which tells of a child who learns to speak without being able to hear, and of a teacher who never gives up on her. 

 The inspiration I received from this movie has inspired me to never give up.  The reason that this movie has had the deepest impact on me and given me so much inspiration is because I have an Autistic son. With an Autistic son there are many days that can be challenging. Sometimes going places can be the hardest.  A few months ago I took my children to a Book Fair being held in the cafeteria of their elementary school.  When we went I told each of them that they could pick out a book.  Once we were inside I realized that this might not go so well.  But since we were already there, I thought that I should be fair to them and try to stick it out.  We tried to walk around the tables and I began to realize my mistake!  My Autistic son was starting to have some problems.  The crowd was quite large and my son was starting to get agitated.  About half way through the book fair, my son turns to me and tugs on my arm he says “Home?”  He wanted to leave.  He was getting upset and I didn’t want a full blown melt down at the book fair.  I started to get my other 2 children ready to go but they were really slow at picking out a book.  It is hard to make the right decision in a situation like that.  Do you leave to avoid a possible melt down? Or do you stay and try to make it through the situation? I made the decision to hurry up and leave.  So, we got our books picked out and made our way through the crowd, but there were still the checkout lines to deal with.  Again my son says “Home?”  His face was starting to get red.  He was really trying to hold it together though.  I reached down and touched his hand, and told him that we were going soon.  He started fussing, kind of a whimpering sound.  I knelt down and gave him a hug, told him it was ok and then asked him if he wanted to help hold the books or help me pay for them.  Thankfully this helped and we were able to get out of the book fair without any further issues.  

The past few years I have learned that there are actions that I can perform to ease the given situation.  Sometimes it is as easy as a touch, a hug or even just a smile. Using these techniques makes me feel like I have a chance to make him understand.  

After watching The Miracle Worker, there seems like there is hope for me. The movie has given me the window to see that there is always a way; I just need to find the right technique. Some days are hard, while other days are fun, but the one thing I have learned is that no matter what happens I know that I have given it my all. I can thank the motivation that I have to never give up on the inspiration that I receive from the wonderful movie: The Miracle Worker!