My 12 year old twice exceptional son with disabilities that cause mild muscle weakness and low endurance made it through a musical theater rehearsal, a performance at a church and a performance at the state fair after walking a quarter mile to get to where they had to perform in the heat. He had very little time to rest in between practice and performances but he did it. He did all of the songs and dances and he did them well, especially his solo "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." He didn't appear to be having any problems at all even though he was wearing a suit coat and layers of clothing underneath because there was no dressing room for costume changes.

His pretty young homeschool co-op writing composition teacher who also teaches dance just happened to be there because her dance group was scheduled to perform after my son's musical theater group. She saw him perform and told him she really enjoyed the performance. It is easy to see why he is willing to do more writing for her than for me.

He made it through a physically challenging six hours and did well but he paid for it later. He knows that is the price he has to pay. That is the price he has to pay to be with kids who are more like him mentally, musically, and socially. He did not have the energy to walk around the fair after the performance. His foot pain was worse and he got a really bad headache so he missed out on seeing the fair this year. He had to walk the quarter mile back to the car stopping to rest a couple of times when he absolutely had to and by the time he got there the muscles in one of his feet were trembling which happens when he does too much. He felt bad that we didn't get to do anything at the fair and thought we might be mad at him because we didn't get to see it either.

He got home and had to put on his very uncomfortable scoliosis brace. His back and legs and feet hurt. Ibuprofen only helps a little. He can't use a heating pad on his back because of the brace.

We have lots of pictures and videos. He looked happy while he was on stage and with his friends. I hope when he looks at these pictures years from now he can forget about the pain and just remember the fun he had with his friends, his musical theater "family."