A disabled life is still worth living

So, I'm back from vacation (got to love sitting in the sun with a book for a week). And I get started catching up on my favorite blogs. And something jumps out at me.

I got caught up on something. Far too many people still don't see the lives of people with disabilities as being worth living, never mind being as worthy as their own. We are still seen as less valued, less human, and less able to really live.

Did you know, that half of all Americans would choose death over having a disability? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046028/posts I don't know how to take that. I mean, they are effectively saying that they would rather die than have my life. Now, in fairness, this was specifically about " Living with a severe disability that forever alters your ability to live an independent life" which you could argue that my disability doesn't. I can, and do, live alone. But it has altered my ability to live an independent life in many ways. And my reality is that it probably will eventually effect my ability to live independently. At that point, am I supposed to want to not live anymore?

WheelieCatholic talks about a recent incident where someone turned away and said that they couldn't live with her disability. WHEELIE CATHOLIC: How are you? Proving that this is not just something you see in surveys, it's part of daily life. I can't tell you how many people tell me they couldn't live with what I have. Oddly, I think they mean to compliment me. Sort of, "wow, how strong you are". Instead it comes out as pity, and it shows how little they understand me, my life, and the very nature of the human spirit. Really, what alternative is there to learning to live with it. It's not a monument to my strength, it's a monument to the fact that the human spirit refuses to give up. But I'm getting off track...

Finally, I stopped by Chewing the Fat, and what I read there reduced me to tears. Dave spoke eloquently of discussing the horrors of the holocaust. And not the horrors of what happened to Jews, but the horrors that came before that. He talked about explaining the evil that was perpetrated against people with disabilities. I'm always surprised how many people don't know anything about that part of the Nazi plan. They wanted to eliminate people like me. I have no doubt that had I lived then, I would have been killed. It's an odd feeling. What's odder is wondering if people actually feel differently today.

Dave branches out to discuss the ongoing elimination of people with developmental disabilities through the use of amnios and abortions. Now, I won't go as far and say that killing living people is the equivalent of killing a fetus. But I do question the thinking behind eliminating fetuses that have down syndrome. Why? If you want a child, you need to be prepared for them to have a disability. It's not like you can look into a crystal ball and know if your child will be healthy for their whole life. For that matter, I was perfectly healthy until I was 16. But my parents had to figure out how to parent a child (well, not a child so much) with a disability. So if you aren't prepared to have a child with a disability, you probably shouldn't be having children.

I'm saddened by the pressure that is put on people to abort fetuses that show signs of down's syndrome. Doctors present it as the only realistic option. They ignore the idea that a parent might choose to willingly raise a child with down's. If a doctor suggested that any other factor be used to determine if a child should be born or not then that doctor would be in front of a medical board fast enough to make your head spin. Imagine if we encouraged people to abort children with a gene that would make them short, or nearsighted, or black, or female. No one would be okay with that. So why are we so accepting of aborting children with disabilities? In the end, I think it comes back to the idea that people with disabilities don't really have real lives. Our lives must be miserable, so it would be better for us to be dead.

Let me tell you, I have a full life, and I'm not embracing death any time soon. I'm quite happy with my life. I work, I have friends, I date, I even vote (take note politicians). Actually, I'm more successful than many people my own age. Really, my life is better than death, I promise.

Child voted out of class

So, I ran into this article the other day. And it took a day to write this without wanting to throw the laptop across the room. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/23/st-lucie-teacher-has-class-vote-whether-5-year-old/

A teacher actually had a child (who was being tested for a disability and is now diagnosed on the autism spectrum) stand in front of the room while the other children were instructed to tell him why they didn't like him. Then they voted on whether or not to allow him to stay in class. The excuse is that they were learning about voting.

This poor child is traumatized by this and now cries if he is in the car when dropping his siblings off to school (personally I would have pulled all the children out). Sadly, the police seem to not understand the laws in Florida. Section 39.01(2) of the law states that

"Abuse" means any willful act or threatened act that results in any physical, mental, or sexual injury or harm that causes or is likely to cause the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. Abuse of a child includes acts or omissions.

It seems hard to argue that this was not abuse.

Let's ignore the fact that the child has a disability, because while it only makes it worse, I'm not really sure how it's relevant. A child was made to listen to why people didn't like him! What adult could face that without being upset. And children are cruel to those who are different.

The teacher claims that she was trying to teach him why his peers didn't like him in the hopes of changing his behavior. And in fairness, many children with autism need help picking up on social cues. But do it privately, not in front of a class, and you certainly don't encourage children to participate. I just can't imagine what this teacher was thinking.

Some people have stated that this is why children with disabilities shouldn't be in "regular" classrooms. Because the teachers aren't trained to handle them. Except that you wouldn't do this with any child. And if you snap without warning, then you shouldn't be a teacher. I know how hard it can be to handle certain children with disabilities, but why not request more help in the classroom if you can't handle it. If you are afraid that you will stoop to humiliating a child then take a leave of absence. Be responsible and get yourself out before you abuse a child.

To read the original incident report go to: http://www.slate.com/id/2192480/