Abilities beyond expectation

Once again, Jordan proved me wrong. I thought she needed her helper arm every time she needed to cut paper. But I arrived at school Tuesday afternoon to find her cutting paper circles just with the help of her little arm and scissors in her hand. She was slow and methodical and she was cutting fabulous circles.

She’s working above and beyond expectations.

That’s what Kevin Laue does every time he plays basketball. I first read about him in 2008. The New York Times wrote a fantastic article about his skills on the basketball court and how he helped a recent amputee gain confidence in herself. I was touched. So this past weekend, he turned up in a video clip on ESPN. He plays in Division 1 college basketball for Manhattan College. We saved the video and showed it to Jordan the next day. She wasn’t impressed. I’m pretty sure it’s because we’ve introduced her to so many other people with little arms, she’s not surprised to see other people do cool things with little arms. Her expectations for a person with limb differences are MUCH higher than our culture assumes.

5 Comments

  1. KelliAnn Mead on December 1, 2010 at 9:44 am

    What a great story! It is really so inspiring as a mother to see children succeed! What an amazing basketball player he is!

  2. Nate Ramsey on December 2, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    It’s great to see the progress that Jordan is making!

    I honestly think that this condition is more stressful to parents than it is for the children who have it. That isn’t very surprising, since the parents are the ones who are adjusting to changes in their expectations and experiences.

    During a recent trip to Nebraska, my parents were impressed that I could knot my own necktie. I’m almost 30, and they’re still surprised by all the things that I can do. In 25 years, you might still be in awe of her abilities.

    Jordan will discover how to do everything with or without a prosthesis. She seems to be discovering that a residual limb is very useful for stabilizing objects for bilateral tasks.

  3. NerdyMom on December 2, 2010 at 11:18 pm

    Nate, I love your perspective and I love the idea that she will surprise me forever. I look forward to that. Thanks.

  4. Inspiration – Found on ESPN | Born Just Right on January 30, 2011 at 10:06 am

    […] written about Kevin Laue before… I’ve stumbled onto stories about him since he was in high school. He’s an […]

  5. Meeting Kevin Laue and More | Born Just Right on November 22, 2013 at 6:44 am

    […] another mom joined in. It was fantastic to get the chance to meet them. (Especially since I first blogged about him in […]

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.