THOSE TEACHABLE MOMENTS
One of my friends the other day on Facebook was talking about the fact that many ordinary people don't know anything, have never heard of, Moebius Syndrome; and so what do you do if, for example, your child has Moebius and some adult is urging him or her to smile?  How do you handle this?  How do you address it?  Do you need to address it?  Well, so, here's my handy-dandy quick take on how you might look at "teachable moments" when it comes to Moebius Syndrome.

1. Many people do need to be taught.  Most people from outside our circle have no idea of Moebius Syndrome.  Very few people have it, compared to the world's population at large.  So most have never heard of it.  So yes, many people can certainly benefit from an explanation of Moebius; it can help us raise awareness of it and make ordinary people understand that people do have physical differences, but those people are still...people.

2.  How will teachable moments arise?  There are many ways for a "moment" to come up.  Maybe you're a parent of a Moebius child, and someone wants your child to smile.  Or another child asks you why your son or daughter is different.  Or another adult will ask you why your child is retarded, or something along those lines, not understanding that physical differences don't automatically mean any lack of mental capacity.  Teachable moments can also come to you as an adult.  As a teacher, on the first day of class, I have the chance to tell students why I look different.  Or it can come in the most mundane of ways--once, when I was having my hair cut, and the stylist was about to trim my mustache, she asked me to close my mouth all the way; I explained why I couldn't.

3.  But you certainly shouldn't feel like you have to "teach" others all the time.  Of course not.  Sometimes you're tired.  At other times, there simply might not be time; or the situation isn't right for a discourse on Moebius Syndrome.  You can simply say that it's a form of facial paralysis, and leave it at that.

4.  But the more you do it, the better at it you will become.  You'll learn shorter, snappier ways to explain it.  I think you'll find that, once they know, people are understanding; it's the not knowing and not understanding that can make people uncomfortable and weird.  But once they know, people are good with it.  That's certainly been my experience.  And people need to know. 

"Ain't about how fast I get there; ain't about what's on the other side; it's the climb."--M. Cyrus.