Gary Shulman, MS. Ed. has spent a lifetime supporting vulnerable families and children. He began his career working with children with and without disabilities in an inclusive Head Start program in Brooklyn NY. He then transitioned to become the Special Needs and Early Childhood Coordinator for the Brooklyn Children's Museum for 10 years. His passion for advocacy grew as he worked more and more with parents of children with disabilities. For over 24 years he passionately advocated for the needs of these parents as the Social Services and Training Director for Resources for Children with Special Needs, Inc. in NYC.
The last 8 years of his working life, Mr. Shulman served as a private Special Needs Consultant conducting hundreds of training sessions throughout NYC and beyond to help parents and professionals find and access the services and systems required to facilitate maximizing the potential of their children with disabilities. Now retired from his advocacy endeavors, Gary enjoys sharing his poetry that he passionately writes with the goal of leaving this world a better place one word at a time........still advocating for kindness in this world.
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HERE’S TO THE CHILDREN WHO DON’T QUITE FIT
Here's to the children who don't quite fit
Who run around aimlessly when all the others sit
Who look at the world through eyes unique
And into their souls you'd love to peak
To see just what magic makes them tick
When they look at a tree and call it a stick
Here's to the teens who will not abide
By life's set rules that they push aside
As they rock back and forth in their own special world
While grown-ups grow frustrated with lips tightly curled
Then bursts of brilliance they reveal as they race
While tears of love roll down a parent's face
Expectations often missed but still they yearn
Wondering today what skills they will learn
We hope for the ones who don't quite fit the mold
That the world will be kind as they grow old
We know that the bullies will play their cruel game
Reality is, cruelty sometimes brings shame
But optimism lives in each heart and mind
Of parents and professionals who continue to be kind
With a network of supporters shining bright as the sun
The ones who don't quite fit have already won
Nobody knows the future
So why pretend?
Let's celebrate their victories!
May they never end!!!
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BEAUTIFUL POEM...
This child of mine you stare at so,
Please come closer so you will know
Just who my child is and what I see
when those sweet eyes stare back at me
I see no limits to my child’s life
Although I know
It will be filled with strife,
I’m hoping that doors will open each day
I’m praying that kindness
will come his way
You look frightened?
You tremble with fear?
Come, come closer
touch him my dear
Touch his cheek so soft
so sweet
Be one of those people
he needs to meet
Someone who will look
and hopefully see
The skill, the talent
The ability
Please come closer
You don’t have to speak
Come a little closer
Just touch his cheek
And when you do
you will see
He is no different
than you or me
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MISTAKES, FAILURES AND DREAMS UNREALIZED
Lord knows I’ve had my share in life
Of failures, fiascos and mistakes
All just part of the journey
Like the reality of gives and takes
Thinking I’d always be a stellar success
At everything I tried
Well here’s the great big wake up call
I wasn’t!!! … He sadly sighed
But all in all I have lived and loved
Received and given some joy
And sometimes, yes even sometimes
Was a very successful boy!
Nothing here too terribly profound
Esoteric or obscure
Just a very simple truth
Enlightening? I’m not really sure
We all have hopes, dreams and goals
In life we try to obtain
Sometimes never quite realized
The struggle sometimes in vain
But the journey that you take in life
With its intricate winding road
Also brings unexpected wins
Like a Prince born of a toad!
It’s not about the fiascos in life
Or dreams that never came true
It all about the journey
Just trying the best that you can do
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