Shorter version: my daughter is disabled, Trump is a bad man.
10
As someone also named George Estreich I can say that this particular George Estreich has made good. I highly recommend his book "Shape of the Eye" about his daughter with DS. I bought it just to see what it was about and flew through it. Having worked in special education for years as a para-professional in my early career, it really hit home for me. And his name! It's quite beautiful I think.
33
Step one: rename your band "The Alternative Facts"
2
A beautifully written essay. I read it through twice. I read through many of the comments as well and was once more struck by the inadequacies of the Republican mindset (and yes, I'm going to call it that because it is an actual thing and it is never less than predictably reactionary and mean spirited). On the one hand Republicans crusade for the rights of the unborn, and on the other they have zero empathy for those who are born and for one reason or another are not able to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. I would like to remind some of the commenters here that healthy economies depend on diversity. The more diversity there is, the more work is created. Helping people is not a cost, but a benefit to an economy. As for mean spirited: why do Republicans admire prisons and incarceration as job creators and profitable, but not special programs and aid for the disabled ?
33
Who is "challenged"? The "normal" people who cannot or will not understand disabilities.
10
"If we publicly recognize the common interests of people now marginalized, if we recognize that “their” interests are also ours, we can resist policies that undo their rights and protections — and continue the project of building a world where we, in the broadest sense, can fully belong."
This eloquent statement addresses both oppressive idea about the so-called disabled but also the ideas about all who now are engaged with aggressive protest. The protesters' anger and sorrow is not just against the current administration or in response to the fact a particular candidate lost the election. This is a rising wave of expression against long-held ideas about who is capable, deserving, acceptable, lovable, desired, and worthy of possessing life.
This eloquent statement addresses both oppressive idea about the so-called disabled but also the ideas about all who now are engaged with aggressive protest. The protesters' anger and sorrow is not just against the current administration or in response to the fact a particular candidate lost the election. This is a rising wave of expression against long-held ideas about who is capable, deserving, acceptable, lovable, desired, and worthy of possessing life.
21
"You get an explosion of legible trails, and a secondary explosion of analysis and speculation, and in the aftermath, the child seems almost hypothetical: a particle whose theoretical value is much debated, but whose existence has yet to be confirmed."
What a great description! I haven't even finished this column yet, but I have to stop reading to "add my legible trail" in the comments section. I haven't even gotten to the main point of the article yet, but I'm very impressed by the author's writing.
What a great description! I haven't even finished this column yet, but I have to stop reading to "add my legible trail" in the comments section. I haven't even gotten to the main point of the article yet, but I'm very impressed by the author's writing.
12
All children are entitled to an appropriate education. That includes children who are not disabled. A teacher cannot simultaneously, in the same classroom, teach children who are intellectually disabled and those who aren't. Even among normal children, there is a wide range of abilities and motivation. That's why it makes sense to educate those various groups separately. On the playground, they should mix. Not in the classroom.
Disruptive children are another issue entirely. Disruptive behavior is not a disability, and they are not entitled to the protection offered the disabled. If their behavior is so severe as to interfere with the education of others, they should be somewhere else. All children have rights, and one of those rights is to be offered an education that is not unreasonably disrupted by those who act in a way inappropriate to their ages and the classroom environment.
Disruptive children are another issue entirely. Disruptive behavior is not a disability, and they are not entitled to the protection offered the disabled. If their behavior is so severe as to interfere with the education of others, they should be somewhere else. All children have rights, and one of those rights is to be offered an education that is not unreasonably disrupted by those who act in a way inappropriate to their ages and the classroom environment.
17
You don't know much about how public education operates these days, do you?
Either that, or you have a beef with your local school because some child is bothering your child, and you demand something better - for your kid.
If diversity bothers you, I could suggest the ostrich technique, but that won't help. Diversity is everywhere, my man, so the public schools are simply doing their job in trying to provide a free and appropriate education for all students (a daunting challenge, regardless), and at the same time helping those without significant cognitive or social challenges learn to work with and understand those who do have those challenges - and they are literally everywhere in society, not locked away in attics as was the case in "the good old days."
Quit complaining, and start thanking the schools for the job they do. Gratitude would be much more appropriate.
Either that, or you have a beef with your local school because some child is bothering your child, and you demand something better - for your kid.
If diversity bothers you, I could suggest the ostrich technique, but that won't help. Diversity is everywhere, my man, so the public schools are simply doing their job in trying to provide a free and appropriate education for all students (a daunting challenge, regardless), and at the same time helping those without significant cognitive or social challenges learn to work with and understand those who do have those challenges - and they are literally everywhere in society, not locked away in attics as was the case in "the good old days."
Quit complaining, and start thanking the schools for the job they do. Gratitude would be much more appropriate.
41
This is THE crucial issue in American education. It chases away our most heart-led teachers and eats away at student learning like a cancer.
However, the politically correct disease decrees that actually doing something about the clearly disruptive children is ''unfair.'' I kid you not.
However, the politically correct disease decrees that actually doing something about the clearly disruptive children is ''unfair.'' I kid you not.
9
Disruptives are often disabled, less able to learn... and in need of a different learning environment. Often boys, categorized as ADD, ADHD, often the home environment altho seeming to be good may have hidden problems going back to infancy or even conception. Stuff like praise five times for every correction. Alternative behavior may be very hard to teach. Sometimes, meds do help. then there is the personality problem -- narcissistic? depressive? both? BTW disabled and amenable children don't cause classroom behavior problems and often do what they are able to do. (It is probably not according to all of the rules.. but some rules can be bent easily -- like not writing on the lines or not writing terribly correctly or skipping pages in the journal. If children participate well in whole group activities, they are prob. OK in a "normal" classroom. So much we don't know about brain development.
3
Thank you for your thoughts! I will be sharing this article with my special education teacher candidates. It's important for them to understand the law, to understand how people with IDD are portrayed in society, and the perspectives of self-advocates and their families.
13
It is very clear that the right views children as a punishment, and clearly, one is not being punished enough if society provides any help of any kind. These are sick people, stuck in a medieval mindset.
35
The political Right champions all children to the extent that we even want the not-yet-born to be seen as having a RIGHT to live. Does that put us 50 million children ahead of the attitude your political training has forced on you?
3
When my son with autism and I go to the library (chidren's section though he is now a teen), folks in town will say, "I haven't seen B for a while, he is doing great!" I respond, "Your tax dollars at work." Without exception, the person responds, "That is the best use of my tax dollars I can think of."
So, let's not lose hope. Most people are good and care about others. The key is community.
So, let's not lose hope. Most people are good and care about others. The key is community.
118
In My country handicapped are well cared for but the painful prejudice and discrimination still exists.
Thank you very much for seeing us as humans.
Thank you very much for seeing us as humans.
32
Thank you for writing. Try not to let the problems of these other people (and it is they who have the problems, not you) - don't let their small minds take the joy from your life.
16
Dear Mr. Estreich, thank you for writing this beautiful essay.
You are a wonderful father, and your daughter sounds like a lovely young lady.
De Vos and Sessions are nightmare Cabinet picks, to be sure. Your essay has made a valuable contribution to the public outcry against them.
Good luck and my best wishes to you and your family.
You are a wonderful father, and your daughter sounds like a lovely young lady.
De Vos and Sessions are nightmare Cabinet picks, to be sure. Your essay has made a valuable contribution to the public outcry against them.
Good luck and my best wishes to you and your family.
28
This is a more complicated argument than the author admits.
Disability will always be a fact of life and a part of our world. And any functioning civil society worthy of that name should work to maximize the inclusion and participation of its disabled citizens.
But these days, having a child with Down Syndrome is a choice. You made your daughter an example, for reason of belief or willful ignorance, by simply bringing her into the world.
It is disingenuous of you to feign ignorance of that fact.
Disability will always be a fact of life and a part of our world. And any functioning civil society worthy of that name should work to maximize the inclusion and participation of its disabled citizens.
But these days, having a child with Down Syndrome is a choice. You made your daughter an example, for reason of belief or willful ignorance, by simply bringing her into the world.
It is disingenuous of you to feign ignorance of that fact.
10
How cruel. I take you are not anti-abortion. Who are you to say they had a choice.
1
NO, Laura has a right to live and her parents did the only right thing.
1
I'm trying to see how you back up your response to your claim that 'this is a more complicated argument than the author admits,' and I am only finding disregard for the acknowledgement and fascination with complication that this article upholds. You also say that the author makes his daughter an example by bringing her into the world. You state this as fact, when it is actually a personal opinion of what role people with disabilities serve. A tendency to make assumptions about reasons for choosing to be parents and broad statements about what purpose people with disabilities should serve (as you say, 'you made your daughter an example') is also a generalizing tendency that 'others' people with disabilities and works against the very tenets of inclusion of participation that you supposedly uphold.
5
My son went through public school with a blind classmate. This young student needed a personal aide through 8th grade. On the negative side I'm sure it was an expensive undertaking for our school district. But oh the positive side. This young man was one of the most popular kids in the class. He went on to college on a full music scholarship. He lives a full and independent live as self supporting adult with a career, friends and a bright future. Maybe Betsy DeVoss thinks he shouldn't have been mainstreamed. Maybe her private school vouchers would have been meaningless to him because no private school would take him. I can tell you that as a taxpayer this is about the best investment I ever made. Helping all children, like your daughter, achieve their full potential may be expensive but as a society it is the right thing to do and we all reap the rewards.
59
Mainstreaming has not been a failure. No, it is not right for every child, but it has benefited the children involved and the community. Students with disabilities have a better opportunity to grow and learn skills when they are challenged, and we have moved away from the practice of hiding people away because we fear the unknown. There are many success stories. We should not go back to warehousing. And it's funny, we seem to be able to find money for high salaries and lifelong benefits for elected officials, school administrators, and the will to provide tax breaks to the highest earners, but funding education is just too much of a burden. And school districts can find money for sports programs, but a few extra aides for blended classrooms...not so important.
21
As touching as this article is, we must as a society face an economic reality. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes more, to educate one child, who is severely disabled, and because of the disability will remain on public assistance the rest of her/his life is simply an luxury no one can afford. We talk about educating them to their maximum ability. Regular education students who will be working and paying taxes are not educated to their maximum potential because the resources are drained elsewhere. It is time that the federal government allows states and individual school districts to make decisions about allocating resources, which now, they cannot do. IDEA is pretty much a blank check, yet another unfunded mandate from the feds. It is unsustainable. Yes, we want students with disabilities to receive services, but thanks to IDEA parents demand services that are totally inappropriate, threaten lawsuits, and find school districts acquiesce rather than go through the expense of court. Everyone loses in the end. IDEA also allows violent students with disabilities to remain in their present placement, restricts the number of days they can be suspended, thereby causing disruption to the learning environment for regular students. How fair is that?
10
Governments are never going to be able to handle the sort of decisions you call for. The Bill of Rights covers these young people just as it covers the accused person and the law-abiding gun owner.
5
Just so you know, your idea is a tiresome, old idea, repeated many times in different ways, and a falsehood that characterizes children with disabilities solely as a threat to the intellect and well-being of other students. The way you talk about an 'economic reality' is a re-iteration of fears about children with disabilities, not an actual economic discussion. A more nuanced discussion would realize that investment in resources for people with disabilities also significantly cuts other costs down the road, such as the costs of 'public assistance' which you so broadly define.
Your argument also heightens the power divide between 'normal' children who attend schools and people with disabilities, because it assumes that the 'normal' children are being threatened. Have you ever considered that 'normal' children can also threaten the well-being, intellect, and resources of people with disabilities when they assume the positions you have also taken?
You only talk about children who are 'severely disabled' or 'violent students with disabilities.' Do you realize how your own idea of children with disabilities is narrow, uninformed, and engages with a kind of rhetoric that characterizes children with disabilities in a way that allows for their demonization?
Your argument also heightens the power divide between 'normal' children who attend schools and people with disabilities, because it assumes that the 'normal' children are being threatened. Have you ever considered that 'normal' children can also threaten the well-being, intellect, and resources of people with disabilities when they assume the positions you have also taken?
You only talk about children who are 'severely disabled' or 'violent students with disabilities.' Do you realize how your own idea of children with disabilities is narrow, uninformed, and engages with a kind of rhetoric that characterizes children with disabilities in a way that allows for their demonization?
27
Thank you. I wish you peace and happiness.
7
"She is not an example in an argument. But clearly I have made her one. "
Yes you have - and that is never fair
Neither is it fair or reasonable to expect your fellow travelers on this journey to cut a blank and bottomless check to support her.
Yes you have - and that is never fair
Neither is it fair or reasonable to expect your fellow travelers on this journey to cut a blank and bottomless check to support her.
8
Where did he say a blank and bottomless check in this article? Nowhere. He's simply pointing out that these Trump nominees are proposing taking us back to the days when these people had no rights and were not given the opportunity to fulfill their potential. My sister-in-law has Down Syndrome-she is 57, lives in a group home and worked in a protected environment provided by a local organization that was established by a woman of remarkable vision for potential of disabled people. Work is brought in from local companies-they are not minimum wage jobs, in fact legally the companies can pay them very little and these programs are under attack from some quarters. But she went to a local high school and then for years until she retired went to work 5 days a week and used her paycheck to go shopping. She gets disability from Social Security under her deceased father's record and we have to account for every penny. No one is advocating a blank and bottomless check.
29
Hi SteveRR,
You have just made Laura an example of why you should not be expected to pay a check for people with disabilities. Turns out that you are hypocritical.
You have just made Laura an example of why you should not be expected to pay a check for people with disabilities. Turns out that you are hypocritical.
4
So, SteveRR - Would you prefer that this girl, who is clearly functional at a level that makes it possible for her to be integrated into society with some accommodations, be warehoused in a hellhole like Willowbrook about which Wikipedia notes:
"By 1965, Willowbrook housed over 6,000 intellectually disabled people despite having a maximum capacity of 4,000. Senator Robert Kennedy toured the institution in 1965 and proclaimed that individuals in the overcrowded facility were "living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less comfortable and cheerful than the cages in which we put animals in a zoo" and offered a series of recommendations for improving conditions. Although the hepatitis study had been discontinued, the residential school's reputation was that of a warehouse for New York City's mentally disabled people, many of whom were presumably abandoned there by their families, foster care agencies, or other systems designed to care for them. "
A society is judged morally by how it provides for the old, the sick and the weak. It appears that ours, encouraged by those with your and Trump's mindset is heading for a seriously negative verdict. GIven the increasing age of women bearing children in this country the incidence of Down's is apt to increase. If the hard right gets its way abortion will be unavailable and more Down's kids will be born. Then what?
"By 1965, Willowbrook housed over 6,000 intellectually disabled people despite having a maximum capacity of 4,000. Senator Robert Kennedy toured the institution in 1965 and proclaimed that individuals in the overcrowded facility were "living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less comfortable and cheerful than the cages in which we put animals in a zoo" and offered a series of recommendations for improving conditions. Although the hepatitis study had been discontinued, the residential school's reputation was that of a warehouse for New York City's mentally disabled people, many of whom were presumably abandoned there by their families, foster care agencies, or other systems designed to care for them. "
A society is judged morally by how it provides for the old, the sick and the weak. It appears that ours, encouraged by those with your and Trump's mindset is heading for a seriously negative verdict. GIven the increasing age of women bearing children in this country the incidence of Down's is apt to increase. If the hard right gets its way abortion will be unavailable and more Down's kids will be born. Then what?
4
Wise words, a story worth telling, as no one, however smart by virtue of not having had an 'obvious' brain handicap, is fully able to grasp reality, and even less abstract thoughts, as we humans strain to function, mostly with our emotions and 'feelings', whereas reason is used mostly to justify what we did (or didn't). You mentioned Trump, our 'illegitimate' president (whose ascension was fraught with lies and insults, fear and hate, and divisive big-mouth nonsense), a very needy ignoramus (some by willful ignorance) who does seem to fare far worse than any individual with mental disabilities, given than dishonesty is a severe constraint to one's character and credibility, and a distinct disability in being able to help others.
5
This is in reply to Richard Gaylord, who perceives taxes as "theft." Gaylord's letter illustrates the real key to our national dilemma of the moment: I ask Mr. Gaylord: What is the consequence of your ideas, if put into practice? It seems to me that poverty and death on a massive level would ensue if we did not use our taxes to support a social climate that protects our citizens. The children in this article would die without government help. Can Mr. Gaylord face that? A broader question is: Do we have a social contract with the people of our nation, or not? More and more, I am hearing "not." Are the men and women we meet on the street willing to see people suffer and die without the safety nets? The answer I am seeing more and more is "yes." I'm nearly 80 and death looks to me like a rest and a relief. And I've been poor and survived it. But what about the potential of our nation? Our children . . .
47
My son is hearing impaired, has ADHD and is learning disabled. He is not cognitively impaired. He benefits from an education provided by IDEA. His school provides much smaller classes than the average school, as well as core content classes that adjust to his strengths and weaknesses. He is on the honor roll for literature, but his math class is remedial to his grade.
Because of this education, he will become a productive tax payer, with an expected tax paying future of at least forty-five years. Without this education, he would need lifelong taxpayer support.
Because of this education, he will become a productive tax payer, with an expected tax paying future of at least forty-five years. Without this education, he would need lifelong taxpayer support.
43
Not even the liberal democracies of Europe, so far ahead of us in their sense of social responsibility and the need to provide appropriate care for all citizens--are succeeding at that, because there just isn't enough money. Yes--even those nations fail to spend every penny wisely--but the perfect human society doesn't exist.
Here, and there, I've seen the struggle of aging parents to ensure a safe, healthy, appropriate environment for their children who can never live independently. I have dear friends whose golden years will always be tarnished with fear of the future.
Please tell me what the answer is. The quality and safety of supportive housing is dependent on the human workers who staff it, and those workers tend to be paid wages that work against quality. How much in taxes are you willing to spend so we can pay caregivers for the most vulnerable at the same rate as NYC senior tenured teachers?
Every hour of every day, because of poor prenatal environments for a gazillion different reasons, children are being born with obvious and with invisible disabilities that make their future success uncertain--and that's only one segment of the vulnerable population. Genetic anomalies aren't always discovered in a timely way and many parents are unable to contemplate the termination of a pregnancy. Laura is only one of millions of children who will someday be adults without family to care for them for the entire course of their lives.
What is the answer?
Here, and there, I've seen the struggle of aging parents to ensure a safe, healthy, appropriate environment for their children who can never live independently. I have dear friends whose golden years will always be tarnished with fear of the future.
Please tell me what the answer is. The quality and safety of supportive housing is dependent on the human workers who staff it, and those workers tend to be paid wages that work against quality. How much in taxes are you willing to spend so we can pay caregivers for the most vulnerable at the same rate as NYC senior tenured teachers?
Every hour of every day, because of poor prenatal environments for a gazillion different reasons, children are being born with obvious and with invisible disabilities that make their future success uncertain--and that's only one segment of the vulnerable population. Genetic anomalies aren't always discovered in a timely way and many parents are unable to contemplate the termination of a pregnancy. Laura is only one of millions of children who will someday be adults without family to care for them for the entire course of their lives.
What is the answer?
11
What makes you think that Laura will someday be an adult without a family to take care of her? She has already lived many years of her life (years that happen to be part of 'the entire course of her life') among loving family members. You also use the word 'vulnerable' in a problematic way: you connect the quality of vulnerability with the fact of having a disability, yet people can be 'vulnerable' for many, many more reasons than just having a disability.
4
Easy answer, don't waste taxpayer dollars building walls or more roads.. or more of anything we don't need. Make repairs and maintain in a timel mamer and build things to last. Having saved lots of $$, one can now pay people to help people altho that can too be a problem. Laura would seem to be much more functional than someone with Alzheimer's and can probably do certain kinds of work well and function as part of a community. Badly gaining elderly are a much bigger problem statistically.
1
From another parent with an ID retention daughter.... Thank you, and thank Laura.
10
I am the sibling of someone with a developmental disability. My brother is autistic. He's high functioning, has a skill (tunes pianos) but we still have to worry about him. I remember when people like your daughter Laura were not guaranteed any sort of education. My parents had to fight to get my brother mainstreamed into our local high school. He was bright enough and could cope well enough but our liberal village school didn't make it easy. Parents were afraid that their children would "catch" what he had.
My brother is nearly 54. I'm 58. My mother and I thought that the world had changed enough that my brother would be more accepted. Instead of acceptance and being able to lead an independent life what I've seen is discrimination, a willingness to state my brother is a sex offender when he isn't, to blame him for being autistic, and the accompanying worry of what will happen once my mother dies if I'm not around to interpret things about and for him.
Our politicians claim to care about our vulnerable citizens. They have a very strange way of displaying this care: cutting programs that help families with handicapped people, not building enough affordable housing, setting extremely low income thresholds, allowing people who care for individuals who cannot live independently but have no family to be poorly paid, and worse, letting people like Laura or my brother be exploited by others who see them as easy marks.
My brother is nearly 54. I'm 58. My mother and I thought that the world had changed enough that my brother would be more accepted. Instead of acceptance and being able to lead an independent life what I've seen is discrimination, a willingness to state my brother is a sex offender when he isn't, to blame him for being autistic, and the accompanying worry of what will happen once my mother dies if I'm not around to interpret things about and for him.
Our politicians claim to care about our vulnerable citizens. They have a very strange way of displaying this care: cutting programs that help families with handicapped people, not building enough affordable housing, setting extremely low income thresholds, allowing people who care for individuals who cannot live independently but have no family to be poorly paid, and worse, letting people like Laura or my brother be exploited by others who see them as easy marks.
51
Thank you for this wonderful and useful essay. I also have a disabled child (now a young adult) and I have occasionally written about him. Your "fine print" aptly describes the experience of doing so, especially the fear of reducing a person to an argument and (worse!) a target. And, alas: I note there is already a comment here (on the costs of special ed and perils of mainstreaming) that both proves your points and highlights the importance of your project -- building a world where everyone belongs.
35
Thank you for your thoughts. I had hoped we as a people in the USA were on our way to removing the thousands of cracks for those who need services for life. But we as a people elected a President who believes that with hard work everyone can make it without services, or with temporary services, certainly not services for life.
I have spent my entire life (almost 75 years) working to help move us as a people to the understanding that providing services to all who need them is the truest sign of a greatness. And that our country will be enriched by this.
Alas, we are truly moving backwards, in just the past week. The pain will continue for so many. You have my care and understanding and I find as I write, my tears, as well, Mr Estreich. But that is not enough of course. You have my apologies as well.
I feel shame that the hearts and minds of so many cannot grasp the great truth that we all must care for each other.
I have spent my entire life (almost 75 years) working to help move us as a people to the understanding that providing services to all who need them is the truest sign of a greatness. And that our country will be enriched by this.
Alas, we are truly moving backwards, in just the past week. The pain will continue for so many. You have my care and understanding and I find as I write, my tears, as well, Mr Estreich. But that is not enough of course. You have my apologies as well.
I feel shame that the hearts and minds of so many cannot grasp the great truth that we all must care for each other.
44
It is unfortunate that there is not an unlimited amount of funding to support all the things we would like to fund. Can we continue to justify spending tens of thousands of dollars on one child at the expense of others?
While it seems to be cruel to say that IDEA students shouldn't be educated to their best capabilities, are we any less cruel to say that the other students in the class shouldn't be educated to their best capabilities? We are seeing education budgets mushroom all while gifted and talented programs are eliminated.
I don't have an answer but, based on how our educational result compare to so many other developed countries around the world, our current process does not seem to be working.
While it seems to be cruel to say that IDEA students shouldn't be educated to their best capabilities, are we any less cruel to say that the other students in the class shouldn't be educated to their best capabilities? We are seeing education budgets mushroom all while gifted and talented programs are eliminated.
I don't have an answer but, based on how our educational result compare to so many other developed countries around the world, our current process does not seem to be working.
16
Why do you think this is an either-or situation? Educating everyone to his or her full potential is good for society by creating fully functional people who can contribute skills that help all of us. A local grocery store that I frequent employs individuals with disabilities that include Downs Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders. One job coach shared with me that the biggest problem is getting these workers to take their scheduled breaks if everything isn't yet completed. I'm happy that education funding can contribute to such an outcome.
6
ESP - This country has endless funds to take care of these problems if we'd stop giving "welfare" to the billionaires in the name of "tax cuts". We could also have already rebuilt airports, bridges, tunnels.
But this is chickenfeed. The scientists have just put us on notice that we're two and a half minutes to midnight in terms of global warming. That's the point when we can't reverse or stop the progress and the globe will die.
But this is chickenfeed. The scientists have just put us on notice that we're two and a half minutes to midnight in terms of global warming. That's the point when we can't reverse or stop the progress and the globe will die.
10
Thank you for your comments on gifted and talented programs. I am old enough to have gone to school before they were eliminated; in fact, when these did not exist. When class was boring, I read a book. On my own, without constant reminders of my giftedness. Somehow I managed to be a National Merit Scholar and earn an advanced degree (Ivy League). Somehow my siblings, similarly bereft of attention to the their giftedness, all of them graduates of a working-class high school, were highly successful academically and in their adult lives. They, too, read a lot of books, all on their own. I am not against gifted and talented programs (I can't be; I put my daughter in one). I am against the constant drumbeat of complaints from parents of capable children that, somehow, their kids are being discriminated against if they don't get the smallest classes, the best teachers, the most funding, the only science lab in the elementary school (closed to the non-gifted, natch), etc. My experience in an urban school district: the GT programs receive all these goodies. The mass of kids in the middle? They're jammed into the largest classes with the least-experienced teachers. The disabled? In my school district, relegated to overburdened teachers with untrained aides; marched in and out of the lunchroom at times that ensure no "typical" children will have to see them; released early for....the same reason. Giftedness-- no, it's not a disability and should not be trumpeted about as such.
18
I have a Down syndrome daughter, too. Mine is now 32 and lives with me and my wife. She is also autistic and has an artificial heart valve.
When I read that note she wrote to her dad, my eyes welled up with tears. My daughter might have written that same note. Her cards are always illustrated with pictures of me and her with big grins on our faces, and repetitions of "I love you, daddy," and "I trust you, daddy," and "Happy [whatever occasion it is for]."
She is the sweetest, funniest, lovingest person on earth. She works (with children and adults far more disabled than she is) and pays taxes on her small paycheck and is a delight to everyone wherever she goes.
One of the most interesting things about her is that she is a human lie detector. I cannot relate what she thinks of Donald Trump because the language would be too foul to permit publication.
But when I think of how Trump, and actually the entire Republican Party, sees her SSI and her Medicaid (on which her life depends) as far too burdensome on his and his cronies' opulent lifestyles, it angers and frightens me greatly. This is a person who spreads joy wherever she goes, and they view her as a useless burden unworthy of the care she needs.
Despicable.
When I read that note she wrote to her dad, my eyes welled up with tears. My daughter might have written that same note. Her cards are always illustrated with pictures of me and her with big grins on our faces, and repetitions of "I love you, daddy," and "I trust you, daddy," and "Happy [whatever occasion it is for]."
She is the sweetest, funniest, lovingest person on earth. She works (with children and adults far more disabled than she is) and pays taxes on her small paycheck and is a delight to everyone wherever she goes.
One of the most interesting things about her is that she is a human lie detector. I cannot relate what she thinks of Donald Trump because the language would be too foul to permit publication.
But when I think of how Trump, and actually the entire Republican Party, sees her SSI and her Medicaid (on which her life depends) as far too burdensome on his and his cronies' opulent lifestyles, it angers and frightens me greatly. This is a person who spreads joy wherever she goes, and they view her as a useless burden unworthy of the care she needs.
Despicable.
166
Dr. Planarian: My heart goes out to you and your daughter and your family. I have a dear friend, whose life depends on " the system" who has a daughter like yours who also depends on "the system". I give what assistance I can, but their lives are a constant financial struggle. My friend didn't have enough money to help bury her sister or to travel to where the funeral would be. The callousness of the Republican party has been horrific for a long time now. I wish I could think of something more comforting to say.
7
My son also seems to "see" into the soul of people he meets or sees on TV. He is better able to judge who to trust than I or y husband.
2
What in the world makes you think Trump and the Republicans are going to take Medicaid or the federal welfare payment of Supplemental Security Income away from your daughter? She is who the programs were designed to serve.
There have been suggestions that Social Security benefits for the wealthy might be pared back to free up money for those at the bottom of the income scale, but that has nothing to do with SSI. Although SSI is managed by the Social Security Administration, it is funded out of general revenues and is unrelated to Social Security.
If the Republican suggestion of block granting Medicaid to the states were to happen, it would mean you would have the opportunity to lobby you state government to maintain or improve your daughter's access to care.
Calm down, despite Democrat rhetoric, the Republicans have no intention of throwing your daughter under the bus.
There have been suggestions that Social Security benefits for the wealthy might be pared back to free up money for those at the bottom of the income scale, but that has nothing to do with SSI. Although SSI is managed by the Social Security Administration, it is funded out of general revenues and is unrelated to Social Security.
If the Republican suggestion of block granting Medicaid to the states were to happen, it would mean you would have the opportunity to lobby you state government to maintain or improve your daughter's access to care.
Calm down, despite Democrat rhetoric, the Republicans have no intention of throwing your daughter under the bus.
3
Amazing essay about the complexities of being a proud parent of a child with a specific disability that combines with her own personality to make her uniquely Laura.
As an aside, I was struck by the description of her word usage. I wasn't going to comment on this - but DJT was brought up in the essay. Perhaps the one positive thing DJT will do is to make personal word usage style, like "you your gigs", seem normal relative to how he speaks. If anything, I might posit that your daughter more clearly articulates her thoughts than our current president. And she doesn't lie.
As an aside, I was struck by the description of her word usage. I wasn't going to comment on this - but DJT was brought up in the essay. Perhaps the one positive thing DJT will do is to make personal word usage style, like "you your gigs", seem normal relative to how he speaks. If anything, I might posit that your daughter more clearly articulates her thoughts than our current president. And she doesn't lie.
29
This essay brilliantly captures what it's like to parent a child who is not typical, who has to make it through the special education system. How far this country has come in the decades since laws gave disabled Americans the right to a public education. How much we have gained as a result -- both those who received supports in school, and society as a whole.
How fragile it all becomes when our leaders put their pet projects, or their prejudices, above what benefits the country at large.
How fragile it all becomes when our leaders put their pet projects, or their prejudices, above what benefits the country at large.
28
". . . and in the aftermath, the child seems almost hypothetical: a particle whose theoretical value is much debated, but whose existence has yet to be confirmed."
These words highlight a common phenomenon in the abortion debate: the tendency of some people, especially men, to turn fetuses and even children already born into abstractions. This is what enables them to accuse women of having abortions for "convenience."
No child, even one who is wanted and loved from birth, is a mere inconvenience. Children are a major, life-changing responsibility. In some cases, depending on the circumstances, they are a burden. Sorry, it's true. One of my brothers was severely disabled. Our abusive ("devoutly" Catholic) mother complained about what a burden he was every day of his life. He understood her insults. His siblings suffered great emotional pain because we were powerless to protect him from her.
Women are better acquainted with the practical realities of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood than men are. That's why, when priests and other men decry how "selfish" we are in our reproductive decision-making, we tell them to butt out.
Children with Down syndrome aren't abstractions. They aren't cute mascots put on this earth so anti-abortion zealots can use them as debate props. If the Republicans currently mobilizing to curtail access to abortion and birth control really cared, they wouldn't be simultaneously planning to shred our nation's already inadequate social safety net.
These words highlight a common phenomenon in the abortion debate: the tendency of some people, especially men, to turn fetuses and even children already born into abstractions. This is what enables them to accuse women of having abortions for "convenience."
No child, even one who is wanted and loved from birth, is a mere inconvenience. Children are a major, life-changing responsibility. In some cases, depending on the circumstances, they are a burden. Sorry, it's true. One of my brothers was severely disabled. Our abusive ("devoutly" Catholic) mother complained about what a burden he was every day of his life. He understood her insults. His siblings suffered great emotional pain because we were powerless to protect him from her.
Women are better acquainted with the practical realities of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood than men are. That's why, when priests and other men decry how "selfish" we are in our reproductive decision-making, we tell them to butt out.
Children with Down syndrome aren't abstractions. They aren't cute mascots put on this earth so anti-abortion zealots can use them as debate props. If the Republicans currently mobilizing to curtail access to abortion and birth control really cared, they wouldn't be simultaneously planning to shred our nation's already inadequate social safety net.
60
Whatever else this essay is, it is the voice of love.
I hope someday it rises above our present shoutings of hate.
I hope someday it rises above our present shoutings of hate.
46
I can't help but think that more than a fair share of families with children with disabilities voted for the man who mocked a disabled person. This very man who wants to block grant Medicaid which will reduce the funding available to pay for their disabled kid's medical care. Who wants to strip public schools of funding that will impact their kid's education. Indeed, if all his plans come to fruition, there will be a cohort of children who will be harmed, perhaps permanently.
And the cruel irony is that they voted against Mrs. Clinton who had an *entire* platform on helping families like theirs to care for people with disabilities. She wanted to create not only educational opportunities but economic ones as well. And yet so many of these families decided Trump was better. Sad!
You can call your Senator or Congress-person. It may help. But until Republican voters hold their politicians accountable by not voting for them just because they are "Republican," this will remain a Sisyphean struggle.
And the cruel irony is that they voted against Mrs. Clinton who had an *entire* platform on helping families like theirs to care for people with disabilities. She wanted to create not only educational opportunities but economic ones as well. And yet so many of these families decided Trump was better. Sad!
You can call your Senator or Congress-person. It may help. But until Republican voters hold their politicians accountable by not voting for them just because they are "Republican," this will remain a Sisyphean struggle.
50
Personally, I try to resist offering my imagined suppositions about others' actions or motivations. I tend to discount those kinds of statements, as well, when made by others. So, I wasn't all that impressed with your main premise regarding what many in this demographic MAY have done. But your closing words were powerful and undeniably true:
"But until Republican voters hold their politicians accountable by not voting for them just because they are 'Republican,' this will remain a Sisyphean struggle."
My experience during the past election with a gentleman who was engaged in conversation outside the polls with a good friend of mine - a Democratic candidate for the state legislature - provides a perfect example of what you're talking about. Long story shortened: They talked for at least five minutes before political affiliation even came up, and they seemed to be in perfect agreement on the major issues (plus my friend is an engaging sort). BUT then he asked, "Well, are you a Dem or a Rep?" And she used the "D" word. His response: "Then I'm ag'in you. I can't vote for no Democrat."
No doubt there are those who just as mindlessly vote for Democrats, but this can never be a truly productive way of selecting political leaders. The world is too complex for simplistic words or actions to produce anything of value for anyone.
We are about to find out the effects of a Twitter campaign, and a Twitter presidency. It isn't going to be good for very many of us at all.
"But until Republican voters hold their politicians accountable by not voting for them just because they are 'Republican,' this will remain a Sisyphean struggle."
My experience during the past election with a gentleman who was engaged in conversation outside the polls with a good friend of mine - a Democratic candidate for the state legislature - provides a perfect example of what you're talking about. Long story shortened: They talked for at least five minutes before political affiliation even came up, and they seemed to be in perfect agreement on the major issues (plus my friend is an engaging sort). BUT then he asked, "Well, are you a Dem or a Rep?" And she used the "D" word. His response: "Then I'm ag'in you. I can't vote for no Democrat."
No doubt there are those who just as mindlessly vote for Democrats, but this can never be a truly productive way of selecting political leaders. The world is too complex for simplistic words or actions to produce anything of value for anyone.
We are about to find out the effects of a Twitter campaign, and a Twitter presidency. It isn't going to be good for very many of us at all.
5
We have no idea how many families who have children with disabilities voted for Trump (whether they were more or less likely to have done so). You can point to nearly every group that will be hurt by the Trump presidency and Republican control of Congress and find individuals who voted for him.
5
I too am the parent of a teen with a disability, and I found this essay very timely, moving, and true. These points need to be repeated, since so many people have no clue.
Special education and IDEA are a lifeline for us, and every IEP meeting is a struggle and a blessing.
Please call your Senator and Representative to protest against De Vos' nomination AND to make sure anyone who fills the position makes their understanding of and support for IDEA AND public education crystal clear and rock solid.
Private and charter schools do not take our children, special schools are unaffordable. So vouchers are useless and drain the public system.
Also, even if you are not in Ohio, call Senator Rob Portman of Ohio's office. His office is taking a tally of who calls in to oppose DeVos. All you need to do is call and say "I want to ask Senator Portman NOT to confirm Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. I want to ask him NOT to confirm any candidate who does not fully support IDEA."
Call today and tell your friends to do the same.
He is described as a center-right Republican.
Here are Senator Portman's office numbers:
Washington, D.C. Office: Phone: 202-224-3353
Columbus Office: Phone: 614-469-6774
Toll-Free: 1-800-205-6446 (OHIO)
Cincinnati Office: Phone: 513-684-3265
Cleveland Office: Phone: 216-522-7095
Toledo Office: Phone: 419-259-3895
Special education and IDEA are a lifeline for us, and every IEP meeting is a struggle and a blessing.
Please call your Senator and Representative to protest against De Vos' nomination AND to make sure anyone who fills the position makes their understanding of and support for IDEA AND public education crystal clear and rock solid.
Private and charter schools do not take our children, special schools are unaffordable. So vouchers are useless and drain the public system.
Also, even if you are not in Ohio, call Senator Rob Portman of Ohio's office. His office is taking a tally of who calls in to oppose DeVos. All you need to do is call and say "I want to ask Senator Portman NOT to confirm Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. I want to ask him NOT to confirm any candidate who does not fully support IDEA."
Call today and tell your friends to do the same.
He is described as a center-right Republican.
Here are Senator Portman's office numbers:
Washington, D.C. Office: Phone: 202-224-3353
Columbus Office: Phone: 614-469-6774
Toll-Free: 1-800-205-6446 (OHIO)
Cincinnati Office: Phone: 513-684-3265
Cleveland Office: Phone: 216-522-7095
Toledo Office: Phone: 419-259-3895
63
Done! Thanks
4
Awesome. Thank you
11
It has always seemed both odd and strange that the "right to life" movement is not also supportive of lifelong disability rights, the right to life after birth. They appear to grow silent when this is mentioned. I have never heard this from the pulpit, either. The assault on community budgets with tax cuts favorable to the very wealthy are an assault on young adults whose development is different, not less worthy. Early intervention provides a strong foundation for optimal growth and development regardless of genetic makeup, but this requires money. In the end it saves money, because development is enhanced. It is now know that gene expression can be modified by early intervention methods (Occupational Therapy, Physical and Speech Therapies) resulting in improved speech, reading, behavior and higher IQ. These methods will often help infants born with genetic differences achieve greater health over their entire lives. Ongoing therapies, inclusion in the community, and work place opportunities are helpful for everyone. Budget cuts in municipalities, insufficient health insurance and discriminatory policies are backward. If these hurtful political "right to life" movement stems from religious beliefs, then where is the Clergy when it comes to protecting the rights of the disabled, the right to life after birth?
111
I have challenged strongly prolife friends on this topic of right to life (at leadt a good life) ends at birth. Usually they are respectful - I get a pass having a very disabled son. Most have never even linked the issues saying "it's not the same thing!" Apparently we all have a right to be born and then it's "good luck!"
9
I too worry about this new world in which we find ourselves and our disabled children. My 22 year old son who also has Down Syndrome fell off that cliff last June when schooling ended for him, and while he did not learn to read and write like Laura, we and he treasured his school experience. Maybe his graduation was well timed given that the school district had the money to support his education. Next week he heads to a group home, which is a minor miracle given the lack of resources for developmentally disabled adults. We are scared to death about this transition but also grateful that funding still exists to support him. Changes to Medicaid could change all of that and make the future so much bleaker for our children (and all children). My best wishes to you and Laura.
70
Patty, I know someone else who will soon be in a similar position as you and your son. Her son is severely autistic with very limited speech. He has improved a great deal in the last few years but he will always need someone to look out for him. The lack of group homes or decent facilities for handicapped people who need them is probably one of the most worrisome things relatives face. Most of us don't have money for a private placement. We know we may not be around for the entire lifespan of the handicapped person whether it's by death or through relocating for a job if we have to.
I wish you and your son luck. I hope you will be able to sleep at night knowing that your son is safe, well cared for, and able to stay there for his lifetime. It's so important for all handicapped people and their relatives to know that there is a place for them that is welcoming, clean, safe, and caring.
I wish you and your son luck. I hope you will be able to sleep at night knowing that your son is safe, well cared for, and able to stay there for his lifetime. It's so important for all handicapped people and their relatives to know that there is a place for them that is welcoming, clean, safe, and caring.
16
"We're both [all] working with the brains we have." I can't express how profound I find that statement. Thank you for your article.
90
Yes! I chose to paste in that statement when I Tweeted this moving article
3
Trump is also working with the "brain?" he's got. A recent editorial stated that we're trying to decide if he's a crackpot or a pathological liar. They are not mutually exclusive terms. He's both. I and millions like me would love to cut off funds of his or something. What he doesn't have is a moral compass.
7
This is a great note. Down's syndrome children can be quite functional. The problem is that some children are simply not going to be functional at any level and yet we see them going to "school" and being mainstreamed which makes a mockery out of the whole thing. There are tough decisions that need to be made......probably not by the parents......and they are not going to be popular.......but many children that are in "school" are cannibalizing school budgets and simply inappropriate for mainstreaming.
11
Children are "cannibalizing school budgets?"
Children??? "Cannibalizing"???
I'm sorry, but I can't let your callous statement pass without challenge. Your mindset seems to be that the parents of such "cannibals" should be stuck with the burden of dealing with the little beasts.
Why don't you ADOPT a few special needs children (and believe me, there are plenty available)? Perhaps you could/would develop a more "charitable" perspective. Ah, but that would require infinitely more effort than simply whining about how you and others are inconvenienced by the obligation of a CIVILIZED society to help care for its most needy members.
Children??? "Cannibalizing"???
I'm sorry, but I can't let your callous statement pass without challenge. Your mindset seems to be that the parents of such "cannibals" should be stuck with the burden of dealing with the little beasts.
Why don't you ADOPT a few special needs children (and believe me, there are plenty available)? Perhaps you could/would develop a more "charitable" perspective. Ah, but that would require infinitely more effort than simply whining about how you and others are inconvenienced by the obligation of a CIVILIZED society to help care for its most needy members.
8
Guess what? When you take students out of the school and place them in an alternative school program, which happens with many students with limited functional adaptive behavior, more money is spent in tuition to pay for additional staffing and resources. Even if the students are in their own classrooms in the regular school, more money is spent to educate them.
So, maybe you should just lay your real question out there. Should these children have access to education at all? Or should we go back to the days when we placed them all in institutions - would that be cheaper for you? Tough decisions indeed.
So, maybe you should just lay your real question out there. Should these children have access to education at all? Or should we go back to the days when we placed them all in institutions - would that be cheaper for you? Tough decisions indeed.
7
The situation for people with intellectual disabilities in the US is terrible. In other developed countries, including most of Europe and Israel, there is a network of social support beyond school years. There are protected housing units where people can not only live in the company of others but also find meaningful occupation. There are NGOs that offer training, workshops and enrichment activities. Most importantly, There is a sober social acceptance of the fact that adults with intellectual disabilities are part of the human spectrum and should be treated simply as human beings. In the States you have a lot of mealy-mouthed blather about "children" but no meaningful action to make life easier for intellectually disabled adults and their families. Ane while I am firmly in favor of aborting defective fetuses, people should know that not every disability can be detected in utero and some are the result of environmental factors that cannot be eliminated. So there is no contradiction between trying to minimize the number of people born with disabilities, either physical or mental, and making life easier and more meaningful for those who are born as such.
54
There are so many issues where Trump - and Republicans generally - clearly do not have citizens' best interests at heart.
I am 65. When I was young I had a brother with Down's Syndrome and a host of physical maladies as well. He died of a heart attack at a young age. His life spurred my mother to earn bachelor's and master's degrees and become a special education teacher for 30 years. When I was 37 and pregnant with my son, my husband and I were sent to genetics counseling. Because of my age and family history, we were advised an amniocentesis would be wise. Before that time, I knew I was pro=choice. My husband believed he was "pro-life". Awaiting the results, I felt quickening and decided that, if the fetus had Down's Syndrome, I did not want to abort as we at least had time to adjust and plan. My husband realized he did not want to (felt he could not) deal with a severely disabled child and all it entails. So, in essence, it confirmed my position that abortion is indeed a choice and led my husband to embrace the choice position as well, albeit from a different perspective. My son was healthy so we never actually had to face the choice.
Republicans who claim to be "pro-life" not only disrespect what for many people are difficult, but adult, choices. For those who, by choice or simply nature, do have special needs children, they disregard how difficult those lives may be without support systems in place. The lack of thoughtfulness and empathy is appalling!
I am 65. When I was young I had a brother with Down's Syndrome and a host of physical maladies as well. He died of a heart attack at a young age. His life spurred my mother to earn bachelor's and master's degrees and become a special education teacher for 30 years. When I was 37 and pregnant with my son, my husband and I were sent to genetics counseling. Because of my age and family history, we were advised an amniocentesis would be wise. Before that time, I knew I was pro=choice. My husband believed he was "pro-life". Awaiting the results, I felt quickening and decided that, if the fetus had Down's Syndrome, I did not want to abort as we at least had time to adjust and plan. My husband realized he did not want to (felt he could not) deal with a severely disabled child and all it entails. So, in essence, it confirmed my position that abortion is indeed a choice and led my husband to embrace the choice position as well, albeit from a different perspective. My son was healthy so we never actually had to face the choice.
Republicans who claim to be "pro-life" not only disrespect what for many people are difficult, but adult, choices. For those who, by choice or simply nature, do have special needs children, they disregard how difficult those lives may be without support systems in place. The lack of thoughtfulness and empathy is appalling!
84
You casually use language that takes a strong stance on a complex debate about fetuses and disability, and the casual use of this language diminishes the complexity of the issue and treats the answers to this debate as set-in-stone. You say, 'not every disability can be detected in utero and some are the result of environmental factors that cannot be eliminated.' This assumes that disability is something that should be eliminated in utero. Firmly expressing this belief without addressing the entire debate, in which many, many people would disagree with you, makes your argument fall short. Words like 'elimination' blend a lexicon of eugenics with a lexicon of acceptance and understanding. That is deeply problematic.
You say, 'there is no contradiction between trying to minimize the number of people born with disabilities, either physical or mental, and making life easier and more meaningful for those who are born as such.' This statement, as a whole, falls short of true acceptance of the equal humanity of people with disabilities. 'Making life easier and more meaningful' for people with disabilities means dismantling the assumed power differential between 'you' and 'those who are born as such' that gives you agency to make strong statements about the right to regulate the existence of disability from conception. Defining 'those who are born as such' creates categories of 'you' and 'them' that allow for these type of power differentials to take hold.
You say, 'there is no contradiction between trying to minimize the number of people born with disabilities, either physical or mental, and making life easier and more meaningful for those who are born as such.' This statement, as a whole, falls short of true acceptance of the equal humanity of people with disabilities. 'Making life easier and more meaningful' for people with disabilities means dismantling the assumed power differential between 'you' and 'those who are born as such' that gives you agency to make strong statements about the right to regulate the existence of disability from conception. Defining 'those who are born as such' creates categories of 'you' and 'them' that allow for these type of power differentials to take hold.
5
This father's column is warm and wonderful but I wonder if he isn't, despite his explicit and belabored caveat, using anecdotal and emotional arguments to support huge investments of public resources in highly inefficient and ineffective ways.
Placing upon the public the burden of ameliorating the condition of individual afflictions and individual challenges should be done cautiously if at all - the solutions rarely improve anything but the distractions and the diversions of resources accumulate. Eventually people make arguments that "government isn't the solution, government is the problem" because they rightly perceive huge bureaucracy flailing ineffectively at problems that are, at some level, beyond the public domain and beyond remedy. "Mainstreaming" intellectually and emotionally challenged young people into public education has been a hugely expensive failure. In most public schools there is a special-needs instructor - someone assigned one-on-one to a special-needs child - for every classroom instructor. That means one teacher has about 30 students and one has but one student. That single student may be the least responsive to investments in public education. The 30 students are impoverished and public education becomes the target of all sorts of accusations about inefficiency and ineffectiveness while a large industry emerges caring for special-needs children.
Is that really the best use of public resources as we seek to bring them to bear on the "greater good?"
Placing upon the public the burden of ameliorating the condition of individual afflictions and individual challenges should be done cautiously if at all - the solutions rarely improve anything but the distractions and the diversions of resources accumulate. Eventually people make arguments that "government isn't the solution, government is the problem" because they rightly perceive huge bureaucracy flailing ineffectively at problems that are, at some level, beyond the public domain and beyond remedy. "Mainstreaming" intellectually and emotionally challenged young people into public education has been a hugely expensive failure. In most public schools there is a special-needs instructor - someone assigned one-on-one to a special-needs child - for every classroom instructor. That means one teacher has about 30 students and one has but one student. That single student may be the least responsive to investments in public education. The 30 students are impoverished and public education becomes the target of all sorts of accusations about inefficiency and ineffectiveness while a large industry emerges caring for special-needs children.
Is that really the best use of public resources as we seek to bring them to bear on the "greater good?"
13
There are two responses to your selfish and cruel comment. One is ethical; should people with intellectual disabilities be segrated and not be educated to the best of their potential as are other children? The second is practical; overwhelming evidence shows that investment in early intervention helps increase the acheivement potential of a majority of individuals with autism. We have two children with autism who were educated in the public schools in our community. Both graduated high school with a diploma and now work and live full lives. Thank God our community was not filled with selfish, cruel and uncaring people.
53
The cruelty of your comment almost trumps the ignorance it demonstrates of the lives of children with disabilities in public schools.
12
If we can't have a discussion about alternatives without being accused of being "for the problem" (selfish and cruel) then we will never identify better solutions - and right now we have no solutions, what we've tried is failing and being defunded because everyone can see that it's failing. I am not selfish or cruel - but your one single alternative (huge public investments in "mainstreaming") is not writ on stone. It places an enormous burden on the public to "solve" challenges that cannot be solved and those resources could solve bigger problems better. Anyone who may suggest that your singular solution is ineffective or inefficient and wasteful can be accused of cruelty - so you will shut down discussion of alternatives and shortcomings in your proffered policy. Still, note that over the past several decades, investments in public education have plummeted and now we are moving with great haste toward alternatives. Who argues for the average kid? Who protects the core mission of public schools? With schools starting at 6:00 AM and running to 5:00 PM to serve as daycare for the poor, and with more than half the staff tasked with customizing programs for less than ten percent of the student population, public schools don't have a chance against alternatives like charter schools and home-schooling. And the political mechanisms will insure that funding is withdrawn. So if I am cruel to point that out, continue down the path you are going... it will solve itself.
6
"With the election of Donald J. Trump, both the systems on which the disabled depend and the acceptance vital to their full participation in society are under threat." having a disability does not entitle us to government-supported programs which are ultimately based on theft (i.e. taxation).
3
Wonder if you would have such a callous view if you had a child with a disability. We are called to take care of each other, of the least among us, the most vulnerable, and especially the children. Parents who conceive certainly do not plan on having children with special needs. Do you even have a heart and is it any other color than black? Try reading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His purpose was to teach people like you, with your self-centered rotten perspective, how to live. He taught compassion, forgiveness, humility, and love. Take the log out of your eye and read it.
18
Mr Gaylord, that is YOUR opinion.
In my opinion educating and protecting those who need are support are exactly what our taxes, or "theft" as you describe it, are for.
In my opinion educating and protecting those who need are support are exactly what our taxes, or "theft" as you describe it, are for.
20
Richard Gaylord wrote, ""With the election of Donald J. Trump, both the systems on which the disabled depend and the acceptance vital to their full participation in society are under threat." having a disability does not entitle us to government-supported programs which are ultimately based on theft (i.e. taxation)."
Suppose, sir, that there was a legitimate source of public revenue that did not take from anyone something they'd created through their own labor, but collected back value that the community as a whole created. Would you consider that theft, or just?
If you own your home, you might notice that its value has risen over time. Houses don't appreciate (they depreciate at ~1.5% per year); rather, what rises in value is the site, the land on which that home sits. And it rises for reasons that have nothing to do with the owner himself, but rather with the presence and activity and investment of the community as a whole. Thus, collecting back from that owner, monthly or quarterly or annually, the value of that land seems to me to be natural public revenue. (To let it reside in his pocket is permitting theft! He didn't earn it.)
And one of the many things that flow of natural public revenue ought to be used for is supporting the needs of the disabled. It is only right.
Suppose, sir, that there was a legitimate source of public revenue that did not take from anyone something they'd created through their own labor, but collected back value that the community as a whole created. Would you consider that theft, or just?
If you own your home, you might notice that its value has risen over time. Houses don't appreciate (they depreciate at ~1.5% per year); rather, what rises in value is the site, the land on which that home sits. And it rises for reasons that have nothing to do with the owner himself, but rather with the presence and activity and investment of the community as a whole. Thus, collecting back from that owner, monthly or quarterly or annually, the value of that land seems to me to be natural public revenue. (To let it reside in his pocket is permitting theft! He didn't earn it.)
And one of the many things that flow of natural public revenue ought to be used for is supporting the needs of the disabled. It is only right.
19
Now we are in a world where are representatives are talking about trashing the protections that Obamacare offers to all Americans: that they will not be discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition or be subject to lifetime limits on their insurance. I'll admit it: when someone trashes Obamacare, I do use my own adult daughter as an example--and she doesn't mind. Unfortunately, she contracted a sometimes fatal disease at a much earlier age than most women who contract the same disease. To lose the protections that Obamacare offers to all people with health insurance (she receives insurance through her employer) has the possibility of making her life pretty awful. It will be difficult for her to change jobs or start her own business and may offer her the terrible choice of bankruptcy or going without treatment. It may not convince some others, but a lot of people stop and think a little more deeply when they realize the implications of their quick denigration of Obamacare.