Disability awareness/rights in schools – how do you feel?

IamMine

blondieblue227 wrote:

there, now that i understand.

like i told 81 i'm cool with his/her opinion.

that was much straight forward and to the point than your other posts.

Like you, I understood better with the latest post. I do agree... I am not happy with my children's curriculum and it could have been done better to make their education worthwhile.

I just found out that they are going to start this project where kids will learn Chinese for half the day and the other in English! WTF??? They say it'd improve their cognitive and critical thinking skills... which I'm all for.

But CHINESE?! Why not ASL, the 3rd most used language? :P

But anyway, I'm getting off the point here.

Back to topic - the point is that they've already included minorities - women, African-Americans, gay movement, etc... but little or none on the disabilities. groans.

if they get it, so shall we.

soulsinging

IamMine wrote:

blondieblue227 wrote:

there, now that i understand.

like i told 81 i'm cool with his/her opinion.

that was much straight forward and to the point than your other posts.

Like you, I understood better with the latest post. I do agree... I am not happy with my children's curriculum and it could have been done better to make their education worthwhile.

I just found out that they are going to start this project where kids will learn Chinese for half the day and the other in English! WTF??? They say it'd improve their cognitive and critical thinking skills... which I'm all for.

But CHINESE?! Why not ASL, the 3rd most used language? :P

But anyway, I'm getting off the point here.

Back to topic - the point is that they've already included minorities - women, African-Americans, gay movement, etc... but little or none on the disabilities. groans.

if they get it, so shall we.

glad i managed to make a little more sense this most recent time around

i wanted to respond to this one though... i would argue they haven't included many minorities. obviously, we have afr-amer history month and lots of focus there, but outside that, what is there? do we learn about any hispanic heroes? i didn't. can we lump them all together or does it have to be separate days for latin and hispanic heritage tributes? the gay movement... they are definitely NOT getting mentioned in the curriculum or i can promise you the right would be having seizures over it. women... we give them a token story about betsy ross and then send them on. i'm not saying those with disabilities are less deserving than any of those groups, just that it's not like everyone else is getting in on the pc-pie and only the disabled are out cold.

as to chinese, i largely agree. on the one hand, i think our insular xenophobia is bad and more emphasis on foreign language skills is a good thing, esp given that we'll all have to speak chinese in a few decades anyway. though i'd think a similar program for spanish would be way more useful for most people. but the fact that they try to justify it as somehow teaching cognitive skills is complete bullshit. that's why our schools suck. all this innovative bullshit to make sure everyone feels real good about themselves is killing us. used to be you rightly felt a little embarrassed if you were a fucking moron and you worked to avoid that. now nobody's embarrassed about anything and if you're a fucking moron you go on tv to play game shows against children and laugh about how dumb you are while claiming that it isn't true and it's just that the tests don't measure your inner smart person right :roll:

hehe, we've probably regressed now... our school system infuriates me and i rant about it often, thus my exuberant language before... it's becos fo the schools not the disability movement!

and now i'll stop hijacking the thread

IamMine

soulsinging wrote:

glad i managed to make a little more sense this most recent time around

i wanted to respond to this one though... i would argue they haven't included many minorities. obviously, we have afr-amer history month and lots of focus there, but outside that, what is there? do we learn about any hispanic heroes? i didn't. can we lump them all together or does it have to be separate days for latin and hispanic heritage tributes? the gay movement... they are definitely NOT getting mentioned in the curriculum or i can promise you the right would be having seizures over it. women... we give them a token story about betsy ross and then send them on. i'm not saying those with disabilities are less deserving than any of those groups, just that it's not like everyone else is getting in on the pc-pie and only the disabled are out cold.

as to chinese, i largely agree. on the one hand, i think our insular xenophobia is bad and more emphasis on foreign language skills is a good thing, esp given that we'll all have to speak chinese in a few decades anyway. though i'd think a similar program for spanish would be way more useful for most people. but the fact that they try to justify it as somehow teaching cognitive skills is complete bullshit. that's why our schools suck. all this innovative bullshit to make sure everyone feels real good about themselves is killing us. used to be you rightly felt a little embarrassed if you were a fucking moron and you worked to avoid that. now nobody's embarrassed about anything and if you're a fucking moron you go on tv to play game shows against children and laugh about how dumb you are while claiming that it isn't true and it's just that the tests don't measure your inner smart person right :roll:

hehe, we've probably regressed now... our school system infuriates me and i rant about it often, thus my exuberant language before... it's becos fo the schools not the disability movement!

and now i'll stop hijacking the thread

I completely agree with you there.

I learned a lot in my women's studies and culture diversity courses in college, wishing I had learned this in public schools... I was surprised to learn a lot i didn't know. But yes, I did notice that there were a lot of information left out, insufficient or lack of. And also information that were NOT included in history classes when growing up!

Perhaps that is something that could be done in schools...because they are practicing "zero tolerance" policy now (which i personally find a joke because we live in a town that is dominated by the Whites AND Republicans. ). Sigh.

Yeah I totally agree that the education system is totallly fucked up. :evil: we teach kids it's okay to be different but expect them to exceed the 'standard' education established by who ... uh... say that again?

The town board here rejected one teacher's proposal of using the vacant building here on the main street so she could practice the 'individualism' philosophy to achieve academically as well as emotionally and pyschologically...etc.... saying how the building zone wasn't approved, not because of her teaching approach.

Yeah right! They're just afraid that the parents would love her teaching method and fuck the public education system.

*mutters* So much it's really for the children.... :(

blondieblue227

That everybody is a winner bullshit, is bullshit. I agree! Lol!

My aide in school sometimes had to persuade teachers to grade me fairly. (I was in regular classes) I’m glad she did that. Teachers if they weren’t used to me would coddle me with the grades. Completely stupid! If I earned an F I earned it fair and square.

My mom and I were watching Britain’s Missing Model (competition for models with disabilities) and she turned to me and said I think everybody should win.
At times I feel like I’m a stranger to my mom. Hello, am I a stranger to you; I’ve been your daughter for 30 years!?
Mom, I can’t believe you said that. This is a competition, not Special Olympics!

PS Why does Europe get all the reality shows with people with disabilities?
cast offs: Survivor, the Disabled Version

soulsinging wrote:

hehe, we've probably regressed now... our school system infuriates me and i rant about it often, thus my exuberant language before... it's becos fo the schools not the disability movement!

and now i'll stop hijacking the thread

i understand your point way better now.
thanks for saying that.


this is far out, but do you think the womens rights movement played a role in why there's not tons of good teachers now?
they all went for the high paying biz job instead of the low paying teachers gig.

libragirl

I joined. I definitely think it should be taught.

blondieblue227

thank you for your support.

blondieblue227

Ok, I’m gonna stir up some shit. I ain’t gonna lie.
Please place this post after my post at the top of this page.

We now understand soulsinging thoughts on the education system. (it’s fucked regardless of the disability rights movement) But before he made that totally clear, I shared this chat with the creator of the cause and I got her permission to post this.
here’s what she had to say:


"i suppose, but i kinda feel like MLK and that other guy are not in the same league. i never even heard of ed roberts. and this country's struggle with racism and slavery is a bit more integral to our history as a nation than the relatively uncontroversial passage of the ADA that gave us ramps on every building."

The reason people know about MLK is the fact that we all study about him in school. Why? Because people believed it was important for that history to be taught to our children. A group of people fought for that to happen just like we are doing for this cause and when it happens people will know who Ed Roberts is. He is the father of an equally important movement where an equally large number of people have been and are still struggling for their equal rights. They are in exactly the same league. The passage of ADA was NOT uncontroversial and the belief that it was shows a clear need to educate our society on this issue.

-There was a 25-28 day sit in where people with disabilities risked their health and well being to raise awareness on this issue.

-This movement started at the same time of the movement MLK is known for yet it took 6-8 additional years for laws to be passed that should allow people with disabilities to have equal rights. Why did it take that long? Well to grant equal rights to a person based on race you just had to change policy. To grant people with disabilities equal rights you had to alter transportation and buildings. So, big business' started to lobby against it. Despite these protections people with disabilities are still fighting for equal rights.

-ADA did not just give us ramps, which people without disabilities benefit from, as well. It gave people with disabilities rights to an education which allowed people like, Judith Heumann, to become productive members of society. It allowed her to work with companies like World Bank and become Vice President of the World Institute on Disability and Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services where she had a staff of 350 people. An opportunity that was provided by giving her equal rights to an eduction something she had to fight HARD for. Just think what more education could do for our society. Do you have any idea how many modern conveniences you benefit from because a person with a disability had a need that was not being met?

http://www.icdri.org/technology/ecceff.htm

-Do you remember learning about Hitler and the atrocities on people of Jewish faith? Did you know that people with diabilities were also massacred in large numbers in these same chambers during the same time because of their disability? Did you know that there were laws that required children with disabilities to be put to death? That those laws eventually required those children to be institutionalized, taken from families who wanted to care for them? Did you know that in the middle of town, where they kept slaves caged, that in those same cages they kept people with disability on display in what they called "idiot cages"? Did you know there was a practice called "passing on" where towns would load up people with disabilities and drop them off in the next town? The list goes on and on...

I hope that is enough to show you this movement has equal importance to other civil rights movements and that the founding father of this movement should be equally known for his contributions to society. For more information on the hisotry of the disability rights movement go to:
http://www.mnddc.org/parallels/index.html

FROM CAUSE HOMEPAGE:We will all age and with age come issues with sight, mobility, hearing and cognition.

"when did simply getting old and dying like every other human on the planet become a disability?"


The point to this statement was not really that age is a disability but that disability is a natural part of life. In an effort to help people without disabilities get that and make that connection it was stated in this way. Point being, aging is a natural part of life and so is a child being born with a disability. There is no difference between a healthy child who happens to need glasses from an elderly person who eventually needs glasses from a person with a disability who happens to have a vision impairment related to their medical condition that requires they wear glasses. There are different factors for why they need glasses but, their vision impairment is a natural part of who they are and a natural part of life.

IamMine

sorry i'm behind here... had some things going on. will catch up a little bit... this is really too important not to continue! I just want to share some stories... and then I'll respond to your other posts at some point, maybe later?

*slides the beer to SS by pushing it a bit too hard, winces when it slid off and hit the floor just right before SS could have caught it* Oops, you see why they always picked me last in gym... :P There were times I saw two teams discussing in 'private' on which one of the last 2 loser girls they wanted to pick...and they did not realize how obvious it was by watching their body language!! I almost always knew which team was going to get me.

blondieblue227 wrote:

My aide in school sometimes had to persuade teachers to grade me fairly. (I was in regular classes) I’m glad she did that. Teachers if they weren’t used to me would coddle me with the grades. Completely stupid! If I earned an F I earned it fair and square.

LOL...I didn't get that 'coddling', but... like your aide, my 'special education' teacher sometimes had to talk to the 'mainstreamed' teachers about how to grade me differently than others. It was complicated because it all depended heavily on the interpreters.

I could tell you that all sucked except for one, but we all had to share the interpreters so sometimes I'd have no interpreter for a class that day. Lousy interpreters could not translate properly, causing me to miss important information - even misinformation. Some interpreters even covered their asses and I'd end up looking like an idiot, when it was really at the fault of the interpreter. :evil:

I had a rich boyfriend, who was also popular and the school's DJ on its radio, in 10th grade who learned ASL by taking courses. Such a sweetheart, right? That's what everyone thought. :roll: The problem was that he was too possessive of me and a lot of times I felt smothered by him.

One day in science class during our senior year the interpreter couldn't be there because of another class to interpret and the teacher called him, "Maybe you can help her?" Without even asking me, he accepted his offer.

I was oh so pissed off! I do NOT rely on fucking anybody! My mother did not teach me that growing up. It was the interpreter's job!

"No you are not! You didn't even ask me first! I don't want you to interpret for me!!"

"Fine! You don't have to watch me...I'm going to do it anyway" :evil:

I turned my face away to ignore him and he tapped me on the arm, but I refused to look at him.

Then he grabbed my fucking breast to get my attention and I lost it. I hit him with my fist.

Two girls, sitting behind us, who hated me for some reason...one had a crush on him, I guess. They gasped and gave this "What a bitch!" look. Everyone thought I was a bitch, but if they knew what I was dealing with, they'd completely understand. :P

At the end of the year, I was looking through his yearbook and saw this girl from science class writing something like, "Melissa is such a bitch! Good luck with Missy (his new girlfriend) and getting into (I forgot which Michigan University)!!!"

I used to visit him at his dorm at Wayne University when I came home from college in NY...well, old habits you know. :P

He says to me every time I visited him, he thought we were getting back together. I said nothing, sitting there and listening to him about how he was getting help getting into another university, ranting and then about his future.... how I was part of it, blah blah blah... this part is where I get tuned out and start looking around.

I saw a photo album under his bed, which I knew was pictures of him and me, but what caught my attention was papers in it. I pulled it out and he totally freaked out, trying to take it away from me - getting physical with me.

All I saw was "A+! That's just sad!" and I managed to run out of his room into the hallway. I told him to stay the fuck away because I was going to read it. He got scared.

I read three pages and could not fucking believe a word he wrote. He complained how hard he worked to earn the A's or B's while his deaf girlfriend was getting better grades than him that she did not deserve...because she got the teachers to sympathize her. That she manipulated them by using her deafness into getting the grades she didn't deserve.

I fucking lost it. This was the 2nd time I got physical with him. And he knew it was coming. I screamed on the top of my lungs and rammed him into the walls. He screamed and signed, "I was hurt!!! I wanted us together!!"

Before more students came out to witness this fight and feared they'd be calling the campus cop anytime soon, I insulted him back, "I am done with hearing boys! I am going to date deaf men from now on. You hearies suck!!!"

And ran the fastest I could out of that dorm and sped away. All the way back home. It had to be at least 90 mph and I wasn't thinking straight, even drove on the wrong side of the road when I got off the freeway! Luckily for me, it was like 3am in the morning and nobody was around, even cops.

That was one A+ paper that asshole did not deserve. :P And that was the last time I ever saw of him.

fife

soulsinging wrote:

blondieblue227 wrote:

But this is not about treatment of people with disabilities. I think some of you are missing the point.

I’d like to see some facts about people with disabilities in school books, not a lesson on sensitivity.

Martin L King was a civil rights leader.
Ed Roberts was the father of the Independent Living Movement.

Just the facts.
Did you see my point?

to the supporters, Thank You.

i suppose, but i kinda feel like MLK and that other guy are not in the same league. i never even heard of ed roberts. and this country's struggle with racism and slavery is a bit more integral to our history as a nation than the relatively uncontroversial passage of the ADA that gave us ramps on every building.

but don't you agree that a person who is very important to a movement that effects millions of people around the world should be known. i am not saying that their should be just a course on him but he should be mentioned in a socialk science class. after all, having a disability can be very hard on young children and teaching them that they can still live a great success life is stilll possible no matter what disability they have. by not talking about certain topics makes it possible for stigma to come into view.

FirstExit

It's a touchy subject because people are afraid of offending disable people. I remember back in middle school I was friends with a kid who had cerebral palsy. Now, I was always a ballbreaker growing up (and still am ), so I would always be making smartass comments in class/with my classmates, and for the most part people thought they were funny, including my teachers. So one day at lunch my friend (kid with CP) starts breaking my balls about how I failed this test...so I returned with a comment about how his arm was disabled...sounds asshole-ish but I was actually friends with this kid so he did not care at all and laughed it off like it was nothing. I laughed it off like it was nothing too because when you're friends with someone with a disability you sometimes forget about that disability completely.

Well turns out some bitch (yes a girl) sitting at the lunch table heard my comment and told the principal. So the principal calls me, my parents, my friend, and his parents into school and breaks the big news that I'm getting suspended. YES they were suspending me. And I laughed. And my friend laughed. And our parents laughed. It was all so stupid because we can tell the principal was trying to be a hero by suspending me because she thought that my friend was "damaged" or something by my comments I guess. Well guess what...I called my principal out on how she was totally unaware we were friends and that by suspending me she was pretty much proving her own lack of awareness for people with disabilities. So at the end of the day not only was I not suspended, but the bitch who told on me got a detention. LOL she was pissed.

So bottom line, I don't think disability awareness is something that should be taught in schools. Yes we should be aware, but it's kind of up to the parents. Disabled people aren't a minority group either, imo. I'm not trying to call you out blondieblue, but I think the people who say the disabled make up a minority group are trying to push them out of society even farther than they already get pushed (unfortunately). Parents...teach your kids that people with disabilities are no different than anyone else, and your kids should be fine.

fife

FirstExit wrote:

It's a touchy subject because people are afraid of offending disable people. I remember back in middle school I was friends with a kid who had cerebral palsy. Now, I was always a ballbreaker growing up (and still am ), so I would always be making smartass comments in class/with my classmates, and for the most part people thought they were funny, including my teachers. So one day at lunch my friend (kid with CP) starts breaking my balls about how I failed this test...so I returned with a comment about how his arm was disabled...sounds asshole-ish but I was actually friends with this kid so he did not care at all and laughed it off like it was nothing. I laughed it off like it was nothing too because when you're friends with someone with a disability you sometimes forget about that disability completely.

Well turns out some bitch (yes a girl) sitting at the lunch table heard my comment and told the principal. So the principal calls me, my parents, my friend, and his parents into school and breaks the big news that I'm getting suspended. YES they were suspending me. And I laughed. And my friend laughed. And our parents laughed. It was all so stupid because we can tell the principal was trying to be a hero by suspending me because she thought that my friend was "damaged" or something by my comments I guess. Well guess what...I called my principal out on how she was totally unaware we were friends and that by suspending me she was pretty much proving her own lack of awareness for people with disabilities. So at the end of the day not only was I not suspended, but the bitch who told on me got a detention. LOL she was pissed.

So bottom line, I don't think disability awareness is something that should be taught in schools. Yes we should be aware, but it's kind of up to the parents. Disabled people aren't a minority group either, imo. I'm not trying to call you out blondieblue, but I think the people who say the disabled make up a minority group are trying to push them out of society even farther than they already get pushed (unfortunately). Parents...teach your kids that people with disabilities are no different than anyone else, and your kids should be fine.

i can see your point but i believe that you just can't hav eparenst doing this. you need schools doing this also. people with disabilities are still people which is what i think you are saying here but considering that we have parents who teach their kids that another race is crap and that people with different sexual beliefs are damm to hell i am not confortable in just having parents doing the teaching only. that just my point of view.

IamMine

That's funny, FirstExit! Awesome story.

The problem is that the parents themselves do not always know how to educate their children, unfortunately. I STILL get amazed at my children's friends who behaved improperly with me and when I corrected them, they said it was what their parents told them. :-/ Then I have to contact their parents and educate them.

Suppose most were educated then eventually perhaps just the facts, like Blondie stated, would only be shared. I disagree with her on the sensitivity part... that is badly needed.

I grew up with kids making fun of my group - yes kids are just kids, I get that. But when they are exposed and educated properly, then it becomes less of an issue - like your friend, for example. But for others who aren't friends with them, they are more likely to treat them poorly.

It is better if they were around them and putting their education to use. That sounds horrible, as if we were a zoo on display. :P

IamMine

fife wrote:

i can see your point but i believe that you just can't hav eparenst doing this. you need schools doing this also. people with disabilities are still people which is what i think you are saying here but considering that we have parents who teach their kids that another race is crap and that people with different sexual beliefs are damm to hell i am not confortable in just having parents doing the teaching only. that just my point of view.

Excellent point there, fife.

When my oldest three children of four were young in elementary school, sometimes they'd come home crying and saying that their friends weren't allowed to sleep over because of me - that I couldn't possibly care for them.

:shock: *growls*

I confronted those parents - politely, of course. I am not an angry person, as it may seem like that from the way I write sometimes.

I'd bring up what my child told me and the mom would be defending herself going, "I don't mean to offend you, honestly! I think you are a great mom! Your child is so smart, it's truly amazing..."

I'm thinking, Jesus you are really insulting me!! ARGGH!!

"...but what if my child gets hurt? How are you going to dial 911? How can we communicate??!"

I pointed out that all of my children are in one piece as a joke. It's not like I am going to leave them unattended because I know what my responsibilities as a parent. I pointed out that I can make phone calls through an equipment - a relay system, a third party that interprets between the parties. I offered her to come over so that I could show her. Alternative method would be e-mail, which I frequently check.

And there are several ways a child can get my attention - by flickering the switch in a room, tapping my shoulder, or if there is another person in the room with me who can hear, to request for my attention.

And I explained that I was still using the baby monitor system in my room which alerts me for any sounds during the night - the lights would go off.

That's one example of uneducated parents.

And another example of the prejudiced parents who have issues with me for personal reasons such as their child's break-up with one of my children, or a friendship that ended in bitter.

"That's because of her mother... don't blame that kid, s/he'll have a hard time in life."

"Poor husband... imagine how hard it is for him to be married to her, doing all the work."

"She shouldn't be even allowed to drive... she's putting all of our lives in danger!"

Good god....we are supposed to be the smartest human beings on this earth, yet we are the stupidest as fuck!

blondieblue227

O gawd I didn’t even think about a bad interpreter in school. That would be so unfair! I didn’t get a consistent aide until 6th grade. In 4th they gave me a slacker. I was so upset! It all worked out thou because in 6th I was paired with the best aide in the world. I think she knew how important it was to have the same person each year. I was so lucky. Back then it was rough, been a teen, parents going thru a divorce yada yada, she was really there for me.

A boy that was deaf sat next to me in bio class. Brad. He always had the same interpreter. I guess he liked her because she was there every year. What you went thru sounds like hell. It’s infuriating when your help is slack which causes you to fail.

Uh oh! No good. Don’t be with anybody because people think ‘well, you’re disabled. You’re lucky to have anybody.’ That is bad so bad. Sounds like he wanted to sign, rather then be your boyfriend. Lame. He was plain as day using you. Horrible.



Great post fife.
I’m of the same mind set. When one group isn’t doing good, it effects us all in the long run.



First exit: I’m glad you posted. The disabled community has a stereotype of being damaged. You’re right about that. That stereotype needs to be broken. Maybe that can be done with teaching disability history. I believe if kids had already been learning about it, you would’ve never got suspended. See my point? Learning takes the stereotype of damaged away.

And again, I think you may be thinking about disability sensitivity training which IS NOT what the FB cause is about.

Frankly the whole world needs sensitivity training. Towards everybody, not just towards the disability community. That is a big feat to accomplish. Way too big a project for schools.

If you read thru this thread you’ll see it’s about facts in the school books that need to be added, not a ‘how to treat somebody’ school book.

And I agree with you. This world has gotten too PC.
I was asked to do this workshop recently. It was how to treat a person with a disability that was coming to apply to live in an apartment build.
It was how you may be discriminating, when you don’t even realize you are.
Don’t say this, don’t say that.
While I was glad people were learning to be comfortable, I couldn’t help wonder… If you fill people’s head with all these rules, will they help, or make them scared to talk to people with disabilities at all?
When I got home I emailed those thoughts to the lady who ran it.

I wish that principal would’ve talked to that boy before he suspended you. In my opinion suspending you makes the disabled community even more damaged. It perpetuates the stereotype. you're right. i'm glad you told her that. good for you.
Way back when Obama made that joke about the Special Olympics on Leno. Everybody got in an uproar on behalf of the disabled community.
It was complete BULLSHIT. The people with disabilities on a chatboard I go to for people with disabilities weren’t that fired up at all.
Never get upset or speak for somebody without going to them first. We have a voice, don’t get upset for us because it’s the PC thing to do.

Hell I made a lot my friends in school by joking on my disability. It’s the elephant in the room you can’t ignore it. one of my best friends joked on my disability around other kids. ‘Oh wait, is blondieblue going to get mad? Oh snap! She’s laughing too!’
I’m glad she did it. it wasn’t in a hurtful manor. It made the kids more comfortable around me. (lol and no. nobody was suspended)
and may be if people were more comfortable those parents would be ok with their kids staying at iammines house.

People need to be more comfortable around disabilities, that is one reason why the facts of the disability rights movement should be put in textbooks.

And lastly, a minority group is when there’s more people that aren’t like you in a population.
Surely they aren’t more people with disabilities on this planet than abled-bodied people? hehehe


lastly pt2. lol!

Parents...teach your kids that people with disabilities are no different than anyone else, and your kids should be fine.

been trying to prove that all my life to people. you think it would be pretty simple. it is a simple idea. it really is. but after 30 years in this body (and the countless people with disabilities before me) and what i've been thru, i see that it's not. there's got to be more to it because it's not working. there's more to it than just telling your kids to treat us like everybody else. this teaching facts about the disability rights movement is a start.

IamMine

As usual... you've got it right, blondie! Thanks for the clarification and emphasizing what was being discussed.

As usual, I got off the track emotionally. That is so me... :P

Yeah, as I grew older and looking back, he was using me a lot. :P I even got upset when I saw him adding on his college applications - even job resumes - listing ASL courses he took and how he "volunteered" to sign.

Motherf**ker.

Yeah, that Brad kid seems like a lucky kid - it's really much much better if you had the same interpreter all the time and you both worked well together. That's not often... hail hail, Brad!

Anyway, you made your points very well. Dammit, I need to re-take my public speaking courses again - focus and staying on the main points! Heh.

But yeah you are right... it's way too much to explain all the rules, what to say, what not to say... it scares people away, that's for sure!

IamMine

IamMine wrote:

People need to be more comfortable around disabilities, that is one reason why the facts of the disability rights movement should be put in textbooks.

BINGO!!!!!

IamMine wrote:

Hell I made a lot my friends in school by joking on my disability. It’s the elephant in the room you can’t ignore it. one of my best friends joked on my disability around other kids. ‘Oh wait, is blondieblue going to get mad? Oh snap! She’s laughing too!’
I’m glad she did it. it wasn’t in a hurtful manor. It made the kids more comfortable around me.
and may be if people were more comfortable those parents would be ok with their kids staying at iammines house.

No kidding!

I do joke about myself too... sometimes it's the best way to break the ice! And I am not bettling myself either, but to make them comfortable in asking questions if they were curious without worrying about offending me.

For example, when I see their curiosity surfacing but maybe afraid to ask... I'd bring up this funny story about how one hearing student in college was shocked when I pulled out the keys to my car.

"You can drive?! But how if you can't hear?!"

"Ohhhh... they got this special device in the steering wheel. When the light changes colors, there is a loud blaring going off to alert me to press or let go of the gas pedestal."

"Really??!! WOW!!!!!!!!"

I just smile and start laughing. Then he started to realize it was a joke... and started laughing at himself, slamming his forehead.

That usually got some laughs.

blondieblue227

Yup, people are too worried about hurting somebody’s feelings to have any kind of sense of humor these days.

And I think after while people are bombarded with PCness, we end up caring about nothing!

blondieblue227

i dunno.......
first exit after reading this thread, you may take it too far. but i don't know you so....
but i'm thinking twice now about your story.
here's the thing, do you joke on everybody or on only people that are different from you?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=119803

Heineken Helen

DeLukin wrote:

Wow. I learned a lot just from the couple of sentences in your original post. I had no idea the Disability Rights movement was that old.

same here... it's something I never really gave much thought to I guess :oops: and it's probably something many people here don't give much thought to either unless it's something you're effected by, which kinda proves the op's point. There is no real way of arguing against this :oops:

blondieblue227

Heineken Helen wrote:

which kinda proves the op's point.

thanks helen

yes i think it does too.

but if you want to disagree too that fine. opens up a chance to advocate!
(that is if people want to bother to read what i have to say)

if you really want an eye full click on my 3w button.