Looking back, I realize I was a bit of an anxious child. For years, I worried about school. I worried that I might not be capable of meeting the new academic standards. But once those worries subsided, I worried that I wouldn’t make friends. I was so troubled by the notion of being friendless that it took me weeks to recognize the girl who had befriended me.
The desire to have friends is a primal evolutionary one. It’s universal. Most of us can relate. It’s the reason why this clip of a teen girl getting invited to a birthday party has gone viral. Her excitement and joy has resonated with many.
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Macy's mom says she doesn't receive many birthday party invitations.
Heather Avis recently captured her daughter Macy’s absolute elation at being invited to a birthday party. In the caption for the Instagram video, Heather shared that Macy, a 15-year-old high school freshman with Down syndrome, has only been invited to a handful of birthday parties since kindergarten.
But last month, when Heather picked her daughter up from school, Macy was bursting with excitement. “Her joy from this invitation is palpable,” Heather wrote. “To me it spoke of a longing fulfilled,” she continued. “All I could do was laugh with her and then cry as I celebrated with her.”
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Heather says we all want to feel like we belong.
Heather told Today.com that while Macy’s language is limited, her joy was clear.
Macy used the invitation as a fan as she laughed excitedly, saying, “Oh jeez, Mom.” Heather, who started crying in the video, told Today that Macy’s excitement speaks to “the common humanity that we all share. We all as humans want to feel like we belong. We all want to be wanted.”
Before high school, Macy was always in general education with the rest of her peers. Then, in high school, she switched to a life skills program for students with intellectual disabilities. Heather said it was for the best.
“As soon as Macy walked into the classroom as a new student, she was instantly embraced,” Heather told Today. “No one was questioning if she has value and worth. She’s finding a place where she feels belonging and community.”
Macy's life skills program has been good for her academically and socially.
But more than just being embraced in the classroom, the switch to the life skills program has proved beneficial outside of the school setting as well. The party was inclusive, Heather wrote in a birthday party update post.
“The birthday boy is a disabled student in the life skills class at Macy’s school. The party was inclusive not because a student in the general education program invited Macy, but because a person with an intellectual disability invited both disabled and non-disabled individuals. It was inclusive because people like Macy and the young man we were celebrating, who are often excluded, truly understand how to include others. Let’s reflect on that for a moment!" she shared.
'I love birthday parties,' Macy told her mom after attending the event.
In her updated video, Heather asks Macy what she thought of the party. Macy, who is laughing and clapping, told her mom, “I love it here … I love birthday parties."
Heather hopes Macy and the video’s virality will inspire others to include the children who are often left out. “We all have opportunity to be the person to say, ‘I’m going to create a space where everyone can belong,’” she says.
