Everyone knows there is no single template under which all disability issues fit for the entire population of people with disabilities. So why pick the very one issue that makes people go crazy? The one issue we have absolutely no control over? The use of the "R" word.
Advocacy is the only thing we have control over!
Advocacy is not about winning an argument about exclusivity rights to the "R" word. Advocacy begins with a personal acknowledgement that all children are valued regardless of their ability or disability.
While I share Ms. Palin's offense to the "R" word, I do not share her view that bringing children with disability labels into world is martyrdom. Neither do I see them as "innocents" or "less fortunate" because it promotes inequity and advocacy is about making the playing field level for all our children.
Trig is a beautiful little boy. His disability label does not make him "less" of anything. How ironic that it took a silly cartoon to point out kids like Trig can be "more" than their disability label.
No comments:
Post a Comment