Managing the Future for a Special-Needs Child

[Nicole Wight] Honestly my hopes and dreams for him have not changed at all, not one bit. Everything I hoped, and I can remember being in the shower the day that we went to the ultrasound to go find out if it was a boy or a girl and rubbing my belly and going, "I know you're a boy." I couldn't wait. I always wanted children, and I was so happy to have both of them, but there was just something about having a boy. I always wanted to have a son. He has done everything I've ever dreamed he would, and the way I look at it is he had his first word, and then he had his first word. He had his first step, but then he had his first step. It was the second time that he did everything that made me appreciate everything so much more. I could not be happier with his progress. I could not be happier with his life or where he is. Just the other day I went in with his laundry, and I said, "How are you today?" He went, "I love my life. I'm really happy." Who says that unless you really truly are, and he really truly is. That is exactly what I wanted for him the day I found out I was pregnant. I just wanted him to be happy, and he is. I think in the future he's going to continue to be that happy kid that can do anything. If that means he's just going to be a greeter at Walmart, hey if he's happy doing it, I don't care. I don't expect that he's going live with us forever. I don't think he's going to need a nurse. I have a worse-case scenario. That worse-case scenario is he's going to live in a group home independently and with minimal assistance from outside people, but I have no intention of being 80 years old and having him living with me simply because he has a brain injury because it hasn't stopped him from doing all of these amazing things, and I don't see it stopping him in the future at all.

Nicole Wight says her hopes and dreams for her son have not changed since he sustained a severe brain injuy; her biggest hope is that he will be happy no matter what he does.

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Nicole Wight

In August 2006, Nicole Wight’s mother and her two children were in a terrible car crash. Both children sustained severe traumatic brain injuries. Her mother did not survive.