Celebrating Everyday Women - Ila
Ila is a parent of a cheeky 6-year-old Inaya, who has different needs. As a non-speaking child, Inaya can be very expressive with her verbal communication, but formulating them into words is another set of challenges. In the children's book The Twits, Roald Dahl professes, "If you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." This is also how Ila imagines Inaya perceives beauty and interacts with the world. When Ila is out with Inaya, they sometimes encounter situations where other children might stare at Inaya and wonder, "Why is this kid like this? Why isn't this kid talking to me?" The parents of those children would not feel equipped to respond to their child, so Ila would explain, "Oh, she's different. She doesn't know how to speak yet, but she's friendly. She will talk to you if she feels like it."