Special needs and spirituality/mythology?

Question

Does anyone have any teachings or beliefs about persons with special needs and their close connection to the spirit world? My 8 year old son has down syndrome and I sometimes think that he has a gift similar to having a 6th sense. He doesn't have full speech but understands what is being said to him. He is very tuned in to other people's feelings.

O.K. I didn't want to get too personal about his gifts but I will give a few examples. My husband's mom just passed away 9 months before we moved into her house last June 2005. My son had trouble sleeping in the house until after we had my brother smudge and bless the house. He peeks around corners and will sometimes look around as if someone has entered the room. He doesn't like it when people "whistle" - which I was told is not a good thing in aboriginal culture (even if it is low tone and volume). He will sometimes look at the sun - which I know is not a good thing - but my Dad (who is now deceased) once told me that he saw my mom's face in the sun (and she has been deceased for 20+ years) and that is how he was able to face each day after she died.

Answer 1

My family used to provide weekend respite for a young boy with Down's syndrome and one saturday we went to a graveyard to lay flowers on a friend's grave. He stood at the gates and said " ghosts in there". When we asked his mother she said he had never been to a graveyard in his life. Yet he knew there were dead people there.
I worked in special needs for years, specialising in behaviour and got a year's respite working in a special unit with kids with no mobility, speech communication etc, yet there were times when you just "knew" that the kids knew something we didn't. A smile that went further past you to something you couldn't see or a giggle ( of the non-seizure kind). The kids definately had a connection to spirit and were a joy to work with.
Your son is a precious gift to you and you to him because the special child chooses the special parent and not everyone is special enough to get a special child.Please give him a hug from me. xx

Answer 2

The only thing you need to do sweetie is guide him in the direction that makes him the happiest..pick something that he's good with and encourage him all the way with it..as for that "special gift" let him grow with it..nurture it..he's already a beautiful spirit and with lots of love and patience he will be a beautiful soul..look into Sylvia Brown's work,so that you can understand him better..take care..wishing you and that gentle spirit of yours a happy life.

Answer 3

Just about the points you brought up:
It's much easier to learn to understand a language than to speak it. Could be the same case with him. And many people who have strong empathy wouldn't consider it a 6th sense. It's just as easily described as a greater ability to interpret subtle voice fluctuations, body language, and facial expressions.
I know this probably downplays what you see in him. Maybe you could describe other examples.

Answer 4

In antiquity many persons who we would label "special needs" were regarded with respect because they were believed to have special powers or abilities.

I would say that there are many kinds of wonderful people in the world who have gifts of all sorts. Be open and trust your intuitions--and watch to see what happens as he grows.

Blessings to your family!

Answer 5

it would be great if you gave some examples of his "intuition" or sixth sense(ability). children are more in tune naturally than adults are, to their sense of spirit. it is when we get older and start believing in "fear" instead of in "each other" that we loose the ability to sense the otherness of where we came from and who were truly are, in the genuine sense of the word.