Listening is a valuable skill. I an expatriate American who teaches English to Israelis. I teach on the phone for a company here in Jerusalem. In any case, today I had a student that had such a bad speech impediment that you really would have to listen carefully in order to watch for mistakes in syntax, proper vowel construction, etc., in order to give valuable feed back
Last week, I had the same student and I was really frustrated, even annoyed that "that I had to deal with such a student" in the first place, But today when I did indeed realize that the man I was speaking to has probably been "talked at " and discounted not only during a 15-minute English lesson, but quite possibly all of his life. It was then that I realized when I truly listened to the person and not just talked to him as though he were something to '"overcome," that I then realized that in that two-way exchange which took place between us that there was something valuable that came out of the encounter. Simply put. That word is appreciation for this man and his inner struggles and experiences.
It is certainly serendipitous that I should find your post today. Thank you for that.
I am so happy that you were able to see him as more than just something to 'overcome'. Everyone has their own struggles and we can't imagine what people with disabilities must go through everyday. Kudos, you are a good man :)