My eight-year-old gasps as the fort she so painstakingly constructed sags under its own weight, then crashes to the ground. Ha, ha, ha. From her wheelchair, my five-year-old shoots her sister a sly grin and activates the laughter icon on her speech device. The machine is new and she feels drunk on its power. I curl up with my oldest girl as she weeps. I want to lie, to pretend the laughter was an accident. But instead, I stroke her hair and tell the truth. “Part of having a voice,” I explain, “is getting to use it however you want.”
Claire McMurray is a former academic who writes the blog I Don’t Know How You Do It and publishes about special needs parenting. Facebook: idontknowhowyoudoit