Transthought

Disabilities Abound

Disabilities are on my mind today. We have a grandson who has Down Syndrome. My wife is nearly deaf in one ear. She misunderstood something we said to her today and we laughed about it. She, of course and rightly so, interpreted our laughter as being at her and remarked about it. Our grandson who is ten is into hitting his sisters rather hard, tugging at my wife's earrings until it hurts her, and running away from the yard without warning. It is difficult to tolerate his ever-increasing physicality. He knocked the toaster to the floor in the kitchen as well. He delights in grabbing my throat and squeezing until it hurts.

I have had students who are disabled and it is a challenge. One who was blind, another who could not walk, another who was deaf and had tutors signing to him during class, and others through the years. It is not the same when such students are in the classroom. They get extra time to do tests, are allowed to tape record at will, use dictionaries, etc. It makes for some unfairness to other students at times, but mostly other students understand the situation and do not complain.

Is mainstreaming a proper course for such students? I would like to believe that it is, and have thrown my hat into the ring of its defenders. Even so, I wonder. Our schizophrenic son could not make in the real world, I fear, as much as he tries and as much as we encourage him to do so. There are limitations that just cannot be overcome. When is it okay to have disabled persons in the mainstream and when should they be in special education? I am sure physicians, educators, social workers, parents and the disabled themselves wrestle with the question on a daily basis.

I would love to see a world where there are no disabled, but I see one that seems intent on creating more disabled persons, refusing to fund stem cell research, dropping missiles and bombs into the middle of cities, and drinking while driving. When will we get on board and try to correct the context in which disabilities are created? When will medicine be allowed to engage in research that will lead to the cure for such anomalies? When will we stop making war? When will we get alcohol under control? There are some issues we need to be working on in this Century so that disability will be lessened and our future family and social lives can be freer of such conditions.

Wayne's Words for July 26, 2006

posted by Wayne Olson @ 7:40 PM