a couple of excerpts from "life with a severely disabled child"
"People look at us askance. They are sort of scared of us, and the way we have to live. It reminds them that they could be us. Sort of scared of our kids and the way they look or behave. They want to look, they aren't supposed to stare, they rush their kids away from us. Everyone thinks someone should do something for us, do something about us, but everyone knows that it will cost money to do that...and there are so many of us..."and it's really not possible, you know, because they will always be among us....Sad, isn't it?" Financial disasters, psychological tipping points... And there are some services and there are some kind people who get it, some places to go, some really good things, in some places. Patchwork services for the fringe. (Don't you love fabric metaphors?)"
Wow! It is just like this. Clare, writer of "life with a severely disabled child" writes about life as we live it, here at our house. Clare is parenting a child with different issues than my son's; and even though her child's issues are different than my son's, and my son is no longer a child, I can say life is just like she describes. I love this, "Being disabled is MADE INTO a tragedy." (OR NOT?) What was done to my son, is indescribably tragic. My son and his difficulties are not the tragedy; the actions of others were and are the tragedy.
I had a friend tell me several months ago he didn't think most people can relate to me and my experiences as a parent of a son with a diagnosis of schizophrenia since he was young. He said this is because they could not imagine being me. He said most people do not believe they could do for a child what I have done for my son, Isaac. I am not sure what to think of this view; what else was I supposed to do? (most of the time, I feel I am never able to do enough) I don't think I did anything anything special. If there is any truth in this statement, and I believe there is; what does it say about society in general?
It is human culture and society that allows us, indeed teaches us, that WE humans are "superior" to other species of life on Earth. The way that people who are considered different, or "disabled" by any cause, tend to discriminated against, separated from the herd; held to a different standard than is used for those who are not disabled. This disparity in how people are treated, begs the question: Is this method of separation predicated on a false notion that a perceived inferiority exists?
I believe this is the false notion which underlies the stigma of a psychiatric diagnosis. The general public's acceptance of this notion is used to justify having discriminatory attitudes. Worse, this bigotry is used to implement social policies which exacerbate the problems experienced by people with a psychiatric diagnosis; it legitimizes the discrimination people with a psychiatric diagnosis experience.
Making it legal, does not make it moral; and it does nothing to bolster any claims of superiority...
Check out Slightly Cynical.
first published March 20, 2011
Wow! It is just like this. Clare, writer of "life with a severely disabled child" writes about life as we live it, here at our house. Clare is parenting a child with different issues than my son's; and even though her child's issues are different than my son's, and my son is no longer a child, I can say life is just like she describes. I love this, "Being disabled is MADE INTO a tragedy." (OR NOT?) What was done to my son, is indescribably tragic. My son and his difficulties are not the tragedy; the actions of others were and are the tragedy.
I had a friend tell me several months ago he didn't think most people can relate to me and my experiences as a parent of a son with a diagnosis of schizophrenia since he was young. He said this is because they could not imagine being me. He said most people do not believe they could do for a child what I have done for my son, Isaac. I am not sure what to think of this view; what else was I supposed to do? (most of the time, I feel I am never able to do enough) I don't think I did anything anything special. If there is any truth in this statement, and I believe there is; what does it say about society in general?
It is human culture and society that allows us, indeed teaches us, that WE humans are "superior" to other species of life on Earth. The way that people who are considered different, or "disabled" by any cause, tend to discriminated against, separated from the herd; held to a different standard than is used for those who are not disabled. This disparity in how people are treated, begs the question: Is this method of separation predicated on a false notion that a perceived inferiority exists?
I believe this is the false notion which underlies the stigma of a psychiatric diagnosis. The general public's acceptance of this notion is used to justify having discriminatory attitudes. Worse, this bigotry is used to implement social policies which exacerbate the problems experienced by people with a psychiatric diagnosis; it legitimizes the discrimination people with a psychiatric diagnosis experience.
Making it legal, does not make it moral; and it does nothing to bolster any claims of superiority...
Check out Slightly Cynical.
first published March 20, 2011
2 comments:
What did you do for your son?
(I've read some of the blog posts here and it seems like your son was in mental institutions being tortured with psychiatric drugs as a child...)
Anonymous,
Nothing special. I take care of him--no matter what. You are right about what happened to him. I believe in him and in his ability to recover---He says, "my family knows what happened to me and they believe in me; and that's why I can get better." I am grateful he knows that.
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