I found myself in a situation today where I wanted to apologize about the way I handled something. It’s not that I handled it wrong but I should have handled it differently.
Basically, I went after the Akron Aero’s for something that turned out to be a misunderstanding. The cause appears to have been a mailing error that if I had handled things better, I could have found out, without causing a stink.
The situation has been resolved and I personally spoke to the director of media and public relations on the phone today because I wanted to personally apologize.
The Akron Aero’s are a great organization and we have worked everything out and now more kids will be able to enjoy the game as a result.
The one thing he said to me was that he wished I had just contacted him first.
You know what? He’s absolutely right.
This really bothers me because I don’t typically respond to things half cocked and I always research on my own and make sure to get the facts straight before opening my mouth.
In thinking about this, I realized why I reacted the way that I did, not that it was right.
I think there is a lesson to be learned here, certainly for me but perhaps some of you as well.
When you are a special needs parent, it often feels like everything is a battle in the war to do what’s right by our kids. I know this to be true because I deal with it all the time and I hear from other parents as well.
It doesn’t seem to matter what aspect of my kids life is in question either. In my experience, at least more often than not, I have to fight for my kids rights. Things from school, insurance, therapies and just about everything else, is an uphill battle in a world that would otherwise leave my kids behind.
I’m not ashamed to admit that that after years of dealing with things like this, I’m guilty of reacting before giving the party in question a chance to either explain or simply do the right thing.
Truthfully, this doesn’t happen very often but it does happen more than it should.
This is the case with the whole Akron Aero’s thing. I assumed that dealing with them would be like dealing with everyone else that have been resistant to making accommodations for my kids with various special needs.
In a big way, I did what I’m working so hard to keep the public from doing and that’s making judgements.
It’s really ironic and disappointing that I find myself doing what I’m asking everyone else not to and for that, I’m truly sorry.
There is a lesson here for me and hopefully you can all learn from my mistakes.
That lesson is this.
Not everyone is going to be resistant to working with my kids and our situation.
Assuming that something is going to be an uphill battle, only served to put me even further on the defensive.
I’m going to work really hard to put aside some of my past experiences and give people the benefit of the doubt before preparing for war. Of course, this is within reason.
I think this is really important because we don’t want to make enemies out of what would otherwise be an ally, simply by jumping to conclusions.
The Akron Aero’s have been great about this and this turned out to be a positive learning experience for me.
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