January 12, 2023

Naji: 17-year old.

Hello my name is Naji. I would like to remind you all of how beautiful the world is if you just slow down and give a little bit of attention to what you see and feel and smell and touch and taste! To pay more attention, with your heart and senses, to what is simply genuine and authentic. You will find joy in the simplest actions and gestures, and you will have fun too.

Well…this is me:
I love music, a lot. I always insist on listening to a specific kind of music, Mozart or Fairuz. I interact with both in an intense way. They build up my excitement.
I like sensory things.
I like to touch and feel different textures. I like thick ones.
I really like the beach. I like the sand.
I love massages, the touch, and the aroma. When someone gives me a massage, they use oil that smells of lavender. I appreciate it and like it a lot, a lot.
I eat a lemon with its peel.
I am very selective. You can’t always understand my choices.
You might sometimes think that I am, or that I live in, my own world, but I do appreciate very much everything I do.
I like to sit on a swing so much, and you could ask me anything as long as I am on a swing.

Oh here comes the most precious part of me, my heart.

I communicate with people genuinely through my heart. When I hug you…It is so genuine. Your heart can only melt.
For example: When I go to the pharmacy with my mother, customers really appreciate when I smile at them and, more so, when I hug them. I taught my mother how important a nice welcome is, how important a smile is.

When you give me something, offer it as a gift. It doesn’t have to be big. A small gift with a lot of good intentions. I do feel it when it is sincere. And I am sooo grateful to you.

Although I have my own way of showing my emotions and expressing myself, I am extremely authentic. I do not know how to act or tell a lie.

I focus on what matters to me, what I consider important. It is just that I don’t like to waste my time with useless things. This makes me able to concentrate and be better at what I do.

When I was younger, when I didn’t like the food in front of me in a restaurant, I would go to the table next to us and take whatever I liked. Oh yes, I give a lot of importance on simply being comfortable.

Now I will let my mother tell you more about me…

Rima, Naji’s mother is a pharmacist as well as a member and registered representative of OpenMinds, who we greatly appreciate for the amazing work they do in Lebanon for children with special needs.
OpenMinds is an NGO that was established in 2012 by concerned individuals with the objective of assisting people with special needs by:
Raising awareness and promoting integration at all levels, particularly in schools, universities, and the workplace. Providing financial support to families in need of various treatments, testing, training, and therapy services at the AUBMC Special Kids Clinic.
Supporting research in neurodevelopmental disorders at the Neurogenetics Program at AUBMC.

When I first met and interviewed Rima, her first words impressed me the most. “I thought you were talking about offering relaxation sessions for the mothers of special-needs persons.” She explained that for those mothers, the most difficult time was at the diagnosis: “we have to avoid burnout.”
As our conversation progressed, she told me how important and even essential her role in the education and development of her son was and still is. “I was the one who realized that Naji was not comfortable with, or did not like certain subjects, such as math. I decided that we shouldn’t force him or insist on him to learn all disciplines. On the contrary, we should orient him toward what he likes and appreciates, and toward what he is good at. My priorities were that he becomes social, happy, and independent. I wanted him to learn functional notions.
“I was the one who, with the help of competent people, was able to understand and provide the assets and means necessary to meet my son’s needs; a step-by-step follow-up so that he flourishes. I thank God that he is now fulfilled and that he partakes in a number of activities that fill up his days.
“Naji attends Step Together, one of the best schools in Lebanon for students with special needs. At Step Together, students have the chance to participate in different vocational workshops to find out which one suits them. It is important for people with special needs to be productive and have a reason to get up in the morning. Naji also plays basketball. He makes bracelets. It is necessary for him to continuously try different fields in order to find out which interests him the most.
“When we allow special-needs children to attend school, they gain self-confidence. At the same time, it must be noted that they are a plus to the educational system. They teach values, and they are rewarding. What we learn from our children with autism is an education in itself, and the values they instill in us are life lessons. I wonder what my life would have been like without Naji. A life probably devoid of meaning and without honest values. I don’t dwell on futile issues. I want to help every person with special needs because of their added value to society. What they bring us and teach us is invaluable. They teach us what any little thing means, and what we should work on and continually improve and focus on.
“I cannot be indifferent to people that are different. And I cannot, like Naji taught me, not to be grateful for what I have and what I gain every day, especially in these moments of sharing. And I can but be sincere and give from my heart without ulterior motives.
“Because of Naji, his brother and sister are more sensitive to special-needs persons and often volunteer their time to help where they can. My 16-year-old daughter, while we were abroad on vacation, met a boy with partial cerebral palsy and asked to play with him. The boy’s mother told her that this was the first time someone played with her son.

“Naji has a disability, similar to that of a diabetic person or someone who cannot walk. One just has to know how to deal with it. It’s a problem like any other.
“Schools should rise to the occasion and include in their curriculum education about special-needs persons and be all inclusive in their classrooms. Compared to a few years ago, some progress in raising awareness has been made, but it is still minimal. A healthy environment and society are needed, which is not the case in Lebanon today.
With the collapsing economy, companies are laying off employees and we cannot enlighten them now on how to be more inclusive. But when the time comes, they should consider hiring persons with special needs, such people with autism. They are the ones with added value.
They are very concrete. They give you the real picture.
They are the most loyal. They stay the longest in the same company.
They are meticulous. They are perfectionists and have a 100% task-achievement rate.
They are always happy.
Case in point:
In hotels in the United States, autistic persons hold key jobs that are important to the wellbeing of guests. They are responsible for placing bath and beauty products in hotel rooms.
At Walmart stores in the US, they are the ones to welcome clients and offer them caddies.

“We at OpenMinds are working on an interesting project: A community compound for special-needs persons who are 18-year old and above. It would comprise accommodations and workshops. We are thinking about these children that become adults and need to feel independent and capable of running their own lives. We have prepared a feasibility study but have placed the project on hold for now, in the hope that we gain the support needed to resume its launch.”

I thought I knew about mothers…
Rima reminded me of diamond cutters, artists who spend their lives crafting rough stones to obtain perfect and beautiful diamonds. These diamonds that are so fragile, yet so precious.
Throughout their work, diamond cutters realize that it is these diamonds that teach them how to shape their lives; work on themselves to keep around them only what is essential and useful and create beauty in this world. These mothers become the best craftsmen of the world: they are the ones capable of changing our world, creating a more valuable, equal, and healthy society.
We find ourselves at a crucial point in time, where women are assuming more important roles in society, and gaining more powerful positions. First and foremost, we should invite the mothers of special-needs children, who learned from the best and crafted the most precious beings, to share with us the highest levels of responsibilities guiding us through their wisdom to what should be the true values of our societies.

Whatever the nature of your work …we invite you to put these special moms first, and celebrate them in your own special ways.
We at Scentle are dedicating, to these special moms, a section that includes a unique selection of relaxing products.

Thank you Rima for your precious time.