Just moments after walking into her classroom at High Point School, Grace Knickerbocker and I lock eyes. She stares at this stranger for a few seconds in silence. Then her eyes are gone, focusing on something else in her world much more important than this unknown visitor.
Without saying a word, I got her message. I understood.
God delivers us in different ways. It's easy to see the physical differences in people, but God didn't stop there. In fact, what makes people so different, so unique is what's on the inside. There is a fire inside each one of us that creates different heat and different amounts of light. Yes, it burns in all of us; but not to the same degree or same intensity.
While most of us can walk better than Grace or talk better than Grace, she is blessed on the inside; with a soul that burns brighter and longer and hotter. And her "eyes are the windows into her soul."
Grace shares her gift through her eyes. I could feel her approval with just a short stare in a bright and crowded classroom. Grace gave me a thumbs-up, a high-five, a pat-on-the-back – with just a simple look.
"She's very easy to love," says her mom, Patricia Knickerbocker. "She's an amazing little girl and a very loving little girl."
Grace, who is 7 years old, has been diagnosed with Chronic Encephalopathy and Ccerebral Palsy. She is receiving services under the category of Severely Multiply Impaired (SXI). Doctors told Patricia and her husband Brad that Grace would never be able to walk.
Doctors apparently didn't consult Grace's soul before making that diagnosis.
"Her teachers were very confident that she would walk someday," Patricia said. "But I told them that the doctors said she would never walk. And they just said, 'oh, she will walk.'"
Tina Tefft is a teacher at High Point School and has been helping special needs students achieve their goals – and beyond – for more than 29 years. Grace is a special needs student, but, first and foremost, she is a special student. And it didn't take Tefft long to realize that.
"The first time I met her she had the appearance of bright and sparkly eyes, and as a teacher that's what I like to see," Tefft said.
Grace was communicating with her eyes, telling her teacher that she has something inside of her that is special, and together the two of them would explore, learn and grow – turning small steps into big ones.
"She was very spunky and that's a good thing," said Tefft, who has had Grace in her class for four years. "I would rather have spunky."
Spunky translates as a willingness to learn and develop. A willingness to grow and achieve and succeed. And in Grace's case, a willingness to walk. But before that first step came years of practicing – and not just practicing to let go.
"A lot of what we do here is routine," Tefft says. "There is an everyday routine of small things and you have to do these things everyday in order to see progress. It's taking the time to pull yourself up or taking the time to put your hands together before you learn to sign. It's taking the time to be active participants in what we want to do."
Tefft says when children have limited physical skills it takes a long time to see progress. But time is the key to achieving goals and celebrating successes.
"It's important to give them time," she says. "That's the most important thing we do here. We give them the time they need. It might take two hours to get through lunch. But they have to pay attention to the details every day and we want them to be active."
The first step for Grace and other students at High Point is to bond with the teacher.
"They have to be able to trust us and they need to feel safe," Tefft said. "We build that relationship from the first time we meet them. They need to know that we are here to help them."
Grace is spending part of Friday afternoon walking around her classroom. She heads over to a door where there is a window and gazes outside into the bright sunshine. The sun shines through the window and through Grace's blonde hair, but even Mother Nature can't match the brightness of Grace's smile when she's happy.
"She has a lot of facial expressions," her mother says. "And when she's walking, she's always smiling."
It's been a few months since she began walking between people and then on her own, but you would never know it now. Tefft always remains close behind, but Grace is certainly walking into uncharted waters with each step, going further each time, getting bolder and gaining confidence with each stride.
"It's a life-changing experience for Grace and her family," Tefft said. "To be able to walk there has to be the desire to want to. And Grace certainly has that desire."
Grace has two sisters, Sarah, 9, and Sophie, 3 months. But Grace has a much bigger family that includes her teachers (Tefft, Pam Kamrath and Sabrina Swarthout), her Chelsea School District bus drivers (including Tina, Monica and Alice), her babysitter Cindy St.-Andre and the entire staff at the Europeds Program at the North Oakland Medical Center. Grace's parents and her extended family are obviously proud of what Grace has accomplished. But they're even more proud of who Grace is.
Tefft says it's the small things Grace has spent years doing that has helped her take those first steps. Yes, small things change the world. And these small things certainly helped Grace take some very big steps.
"Are you and your beautiful eyes ready to go home," Tefft asks Grace as she puts on her coat.
Her eyes – and bright smile – say "yes."
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