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By Lyle Hillyard
Utah State Senator, District 25

The Center for Persons with Disabilities at USU just celebrated its 35th anniversary.

This Center has been an absolute leader in training teachers and parents in how to educate and cope with these special people.

I was asked by my neighbor to serve on an advisory board about a month before our son Matt was born (32 years ago). When he arrived, we suddenly arrived in the world of disability from the eyes of parents. I have learned so much from the great people and programs at the Center. I well remember coming to the Center to pick up my son who was about 3 years old and watching him eat by himself. I was on the other side of a two-way mirror. He finished and then took the tray over and properly emptied it. I had thought that he was so disabled that he could not do anything on his own. Those few minutes changed my life and taught me that sometimes people can do much more than we expect or will let them do.

We have been very fortunate because we have been able to accept Matt and he has become such an important part of our lives. We are all better people because of it because we have learned that while all of us are different, we are more alike than we are different.

If you have not had a chance to become acquainted with the CPD at USU, please take the time for a visit. They have outreach programs across the state and nation and could help anyone who faces the challenge of raising a child who has disabilities. I have found the greatest challenge to most parents is accepting that their child may not be the star quarterback on the football team or the class valedictorian but when we realize the influence they are in our lives and when they are accepted and loved, they can be a more powerful blessing than a star athlete or scholar. I’m grateful for my son. Matt always reminds me when everyone else seems to want to criticize that there is someone who loves without reservation and always says, “Thank you,” even for small acts of help.

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