"An actual conversation with my daughter yesterday: . .
"So Mom, you know I have Down syndrome, right?"
"Yes, Dear..."
"So you know that means I have special needs?"
"Yes. But what does it mean to have special needs for you? Because.... I tend to think we all have special needs of one sort or another."
No hesitation.... she'd obviously been thinking this through:
"My special needs are... No yelling. I don't ever like to yell. I like to be gentle."
"That is so true! What else?"
"I don't want to hurt people's feelings. That's part of being gentle."
"Sniff, sniff 😢... what else, Kelsey?"
"I like to go very slow. If you make me rush I don't like it."
"Very true again! *sigh* "Anything else?"
"No, that's enough for now."
"Okay. I like to hear what you are thinking."
"I know, Mom, that's why I told you. But I don't like to talk all the time."
"True. Thank you for sharing."
"You're welcome."