I pray for the labeled child;
That child who is learning disabled.No longer will the world expect brilliance
No longer will someone tell him to reach for the stars

Because that is where greatness is found.
I pray for the labeled child;
That is dyslexic.
Reading--oh, the joy of reading!
Will always be hard for her to find.
no matter that she can recite--no sing--
Mary Had a Little Lamb,
She won't be able to read it,
At least not without difficulty.
She will learn that all her friends
Who laugh and cry and wonder about books
Can do so because they are not dyslexic.

I pray for the labeled child;
That child who is A.D.D.
An unorganized bubble of hyperactivity
No longer will someone say "You can do this;
Oh it may be hard, but it is within you to do this."
A dose of medicine now replaces the need for that inner effort
And eliminates the possible victory.

I pray for the labeled child;
That child who is emotionally handicapped.
That child who rebels
Because she should rebel.

The child who acts out
Because there is nowhere else
For the hurt and anxiety and fear to go.
The child who is diagnosed "sick,"
When perhaps her actions are the one true sign of sanity
In the demented world in which she is forced to live.

I pray for the child of no label.
In a system, which marks so, many special,
This child neither shines nor demands.

For this child life has been neither harsh nor generous
This is one who "makes" the teacher's day
Because there are so many children who need real attention.