Leah's First Prom

Some experience Prom when they are older, but Leah was invited to go to MPHS Life Skills Program’s Prom in 2016. We found her nicest dress that she had at that time as it was her Sofia the First dress, and we took her to the store so she could pick out flowers that she could hand out to some of her friends.

Although we did not stay long, but this evening was pretty spectacular!

This was the first time I have ever experienced the sense of belonging. It is a feeling that is so hard to describe, but as a parent you want your child to have a sense belonging, where they are not judged or treated differently based on their disability. You want acceptance and understanding where your child can just be who they are and not have to live up to society standards.

For the longest time I have wanted Leah to belong, and to this day I still want that for my daughter. But during this time of her life, I really wanted and needed to know that it actually existed. I hated the fact my daughter had to check certain boxes or have certain skills or behave a certain way for her to be included with her same age peers.

On this day of her 1st prom, she did not need to have mastered those certain criteria boxes as she was accepted for who she was. She was surrounded by peers that were much older than her, but they accepted Leah for who she was, and they treated her with the respect and dignity that one deserves. She was around her community, her forever friends and the families that I look up to.

I saw how the parents of these families interact with each other, they all smiled, knew each other, and I quietly observed how happy they were. They were not worried about being judged, they did not worry about saying the wrong thing, they were just genuine and authentic.

During this time, my daughter went to school and at that time she was in a developmental learning program. Parent’s whom had students in this program would pick their students up at the back of the school away from parents of their same age peers. There was only a few of us, we all kept to ourselves, sometimes we would have small conversations, but we just mainly stood and waited quietly. So, the feeling of being alone, isolated and being different was something that weighed heavily on myself.

Ultimately, Leah’s 1st Prom was an experience that filled my heart with hope, it gave me motivation, it inspired me. It made me want to recreate this experience for other families to have, but mainly I wanted other parents such as myself know that there is a community out there that supports their loved ones and accepts them for who they are. And in no matter what circumstance that there would be no judgment, no biases and to let them know that they are never alone. This was one of our dreams as the process of starting Leah’s Dream Foundation was to build on creating a stronger community for families to feel welcomed!