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A Letter of Thanks...

By Faye Ann Flyer

It is hard to say thank you when the words seem so short. I feel they need to be bigger, stronger, more expressive and powerful. But I have been taught that thank you means just what it says. Brett Flyer, now Mr. Flyer at the studio. The young man; my son, who spent 12 years working and learning to reach the level of Black Belt. Twelve years! He is a special young man. I was told he wouldn't survive his first day of life; born without oxygen, in distress - coming from a perfect pregnancy. One of those things that only powers greater than I can explain. The only thing Brett did on time was talk - counting to 10 from watching Sesame Street, no 'Mom', 'Dad', just '1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10'. Rejoice. So many doctors, so many physical therapists, so much for all of us to learn. Brett taught us so many lessons as he learned - we had to learn to slow down, as he would be processing two sentences behind us and get lost. He had to be physically manipulated through simple tasks such as standing on his toes. He would read only to the center of a page as he had to be taught to cross the center line of his brain, something we do automatically; his right hand side working independently from his left, needing to be taught to work together. He needed something special that could be his own, different from his older brothers Mitchell and Jonathan - national class swimmers.

Another mother found Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate and suggested I take Brett. I remember his first lesson so vividly. He stood in front of the mirror and couldn’t figure out how to turn his hands in the mirror image. Lesson after lesson I sat and watched slowly, slowly he progressed - a child who was a single task person was actually learning how to do several moves in the karate studio. I would have to tell him when I wanted something from the other room, the exact steps to take and in the exact order or he wouldn't be able to do it, e.g., go into the kitchen, go to the drawer by the refrigerator, open it and get a fork. If there were too many things in his visual field he'd get confused. The karate instructors treated him with kindness, respect and dignity and above all, compassion and patience. Kevin taught him to ride a two-wheel bike and came to his birthday party. He has been made to feel a part of something, comfortable and respected.

Brett has worked so hard in his lifetime, he has been living at the Independence Center for Learning Disabled Young Adults since he was 18 years old. He has excelled; a transition program was started because he did so well that he needed to move up but not to the Outreach Program. He's lived in his own apartment for 14 months. He does better than I do at independent living. He has held a job at Dinah's Restaurant for nine years, rides the bus or takes a cab, cleans, cooks, shops, pays his bills and is taking computer lessons now. He is caring, kind, gentle and a very special person who has taught lessons to everyone whose life he has touched. Brett deals with severe learning disabilities, epilepsy and mild cerebral palsy. His neurologist uses the videotape of his Black Belt test to show other students and families how Brett has achieved far beyond his original prognosis. God loans us our children some believe, others believe our special children choose us. I like to believe Brett chose us. He is free and open regarding his disabilities and accepts his shortcomings to the best of his ability. Karate has given him self-confidence, coordination, more agility than he would have ever had, a sense of self and a feeling of belonging that only could come from Mr. Hawkins and the other members of the karate studio. He takes private lessons because he cannot be hit in the head and his reflexes and reaction time is slow.

I cannot say enough about his experience with karate, so I will just simply say 'thank you from the bottom of my heart'.

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