Feynn - Spiro sounds like a wise man!
Rysdad - The gift of someone’s laughter is such an important gift in life. I could sit for hours and listen to my son giggle. Thank you!
Broken Doll - I have laughed, but in many ways I feel sorry for people like that. They miss out on so many things in life that bring enjoyment. I’m sorry for what you’ve gone through!
PoohPah - Thank you!
mouth agape
CanadianSue started a pit thread?
CanadianSue used the f-word?
Wow. I hafta check out the pit more often.
Seriously Sue,
You’re the best Mom I ever met.(Except for my mom of course)
That’s it exactly, Sue. This thread had me crying already, half in anger half in grief, but when I remember my one-in-a-million brother’s giggles, and his unconditional love for me no matter how awful I was to him, the tears are of joy.
I know that I am a little late, but I was on vacation untill today. :). I was trained as a rehabilitation worker and after I completed my training I helped to run a program that was geared to having people with disabilities gain and maintain community-based employment. The program had two components, a classroom component which we ran in the local regional college and the work experience component. It was interesting to see the reactions of the staff and students in the college environment. If one of our students was talking to the staff and students there would be four different reactions
The people would ignore our students and head in the other direction.
People would pretend our students weren’t there.
When our students would ask for something then they would tell us the answer instead of the students
They would accept the students as people.
As part of my job I had to approach all the local businesses to see if they would take our students. I found it interesting to hear some of the businesses reactions. “I will accept someone if you don’t give me someone who doesn’t look handicapped”,“My normal workers would be insulted if we had one of your students working here” and “No, those people scare me”. I guess what I am trying to say is that ignorance is one of the greatest barriers in our society.
My neice and nephew who are seven and five are visiting right now and my neice has a good friend with Spina Bifida. They accept her as a person and when they play with each other they will pretend that one of them is in a wheel chair. They don’t see that as a negative, but as the way thing are. I hope that more people adapt that attitude and that they don’t change their ideas when they get older.
I have more to add, but this post is getting pretty long.
Keith
Maybe once, in the most pretentious period of the Women’s Liberation movement, did someone complain about it. I do not think of it as chauvinistic or that I think these people can’t do it for themselves. It’s just a nice thing to do.
I was in a parking lot when an apparently able-bodied adult male parked his Corvette in a handicapped space. As he jogged away from it I pointed out his error. “Hey, I’m handicapped. Do you think only assholes drive Corvettes?” I didn’t answer aloud but wondered when being morally bankrupt qualified one for preferred parking. The assholes in Corvettes question was too obvious to touch.
I was in line at the library once. Two very damaged children were there. They looked at me with a love of such intensity I believe I have seen the face of God. No wonder many cultures consider retarded people holy.
This was touched on earlier, but at least in CA, it is appalingly easy to get a handicapped permit for parking (college football players aside).
The mother-in-law was having a problem with her foot. Not severe, in no way disabling her, just painful in an annoying way. She got her podiatrist to cough up handicapped placards for OVER A YEAR. When I think of the truly handicapped people who may not have had a space because of her shenanigans, it maske me very sad and angry.
And yes, I said something, but I must tread lightly because of tensions on many levels. Suffice to say that my disapproval mattered not at all.
Sue, would you feel comfortable posting you son’s picture in SD people so more of us could “meet” him?
I teach Kindergarten and have had several Down’s Syndrome kids over the years. They are great. I treat them just like all the other kids and they get along fine. They need a little extra help now and then, but don’t we all?
My mother-in-law (the bigot, who makes Archie Bunker look like a liberal) is appalled that they would put one of “THOSE” kids in my class…but I digress. I’ll save her for another thread.
The last Down’s kid I had was 2 years ago. This little boy, who I will call Billy, never really talked. His parents said he could say about 10 words, and would make noises, like grunting, to make himself understood. After a few weeks, I was able to understand him, for the most part. He rarely talked to me, but I always was able to figure out what he wanted or needed. Billy was seeing a speech therapist, and at the end of the year had picked up a few more words, and could say about 5 or 6 classmates names. He knew who they all were, but could only say a few of their names. He had never said my name (Miss Kinsey).
On the last day of school, Billy came over to me at the end of our party and, completely unprodded by his mom, said, “Lub you, Miss Kinney” with a huge smile. I cried!
I miss him so much!
Just wanted to share…
Several years ago, a friend of my mom’s who is blind ended up breaking her ankle when at the top of some of stairs somebody INSISTED on “helping” her by grabbing her arm and yanking her; she fell, no surprise there. On another occasion somebody, in an effort to “help” her, picked up her guide dog’s harness handle so she could “find it more easily”; I am given to understand that she ripped them a new one for interfering with her dog. She was a wonderful person who simply didn’t take any BS from anybody about her blindness. Don’t EVER pet somebody’s service animal without asking. And don’t insist on helping disabled people if they say they don’t need it.