What We Can Learn From Tim Walz and Gus

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Credit…Damon Winter/The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Tim Walz, Protect My Son as You Do Yours,” by Tina Brown (Opinion guest essay, Aug. 24):

Thank you, Tina Brown, for expanding readers’ understanding of neurodivergent persons. As the proud father of a 14-year-old son with developmental disabilities, I, like Ms. Brown, recognized Tim Walz’s son, Gus, as “one of ours” — a sweet, sensitive-looking, neurodivergent person who appeared somewhat unsure of himself during his father’s nomination acceptance speech.

When Gus met his father’s declaration of love for him by standing up, pointing at the stage and shouting through tears “That’s my dad!,” my heart exploded.

My son’s third-grade teacher once asked his class of various neurodivergent children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” He responded, “I just want to be a good dad.” I have never felt more recognized and honored in my life.

Neurotypical people have something important to learn from Gus Walz’s unfiltered love, my son’s thinking and Ms. Brown’s son’s (Georgie’s) matter-of-fact honesty. In our constant reading of others, we can miss the truth of our own experience.

Paul Siegel
New York
The writer is a professor of psychology at Westchester Community College and Purchase College, SUNY.

To the Editor:

Who knew that Tina Brown and I might ever have anything in common, let alone that we could share a gigantic part of our emotional makeup as parents of neurodivergent children. The cult of Trump has amply demonstrated what Ms. Brown, Gwen and Tim Walz, and countless other devoted parents like us already know: Too many of the cruel, tiny-minded bullies who mocked and stalked our kids starting in early childhood have grown into adults who are just like that.