Posted on 04/11/2015 5:49:11 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
One day a few years ago, we were at an event with some friends who had adopted a girl with Downs from the Ukraine. There was a moon bounce there.
Oh my gosh! We’re evil. We segregated! We discriminated!
Darn right. We cleared the moon bounce for a few minutes so she could have some fun too. She wasn’t coordinated enough to be there with the other kids.
I guess we must be evil
Actually, what’s shocking is a Freeper twisting common-sense posts into support for abortion.
Shocking, AND disgusting.
Who here said anything about abortion? Who here suggested that people with Down’s Syndrome should be aborted? Strawman much?
Apparently, many here feel that Down Syndrome individuals should be treated differently. Excluded. Kept away from “normal” people.
Again, no one here is suggesting that they be “excluded” from society or kept away from “normal” people. But it is not at all realistic to say they are not “different”.
Children with Down’s Syndrome have a pronounced disability, one that is both in cognitive functioning and in pronounced physical differences - many have issues with balance and coordination, some have problems with bone density and muscle development, are prone to injuries that “normal” kids aren’t and other physical and medical problems and some do act out (even sometimes aggressively and violently), can be difficult to control especially when they get over stimulated.
Of course the level of their disability varies with the severity. Some people with Down’s Syndrome can learn and are high functioning and can accomplish amazing things given their disability, even getting jobs and living semi-independently as adults, but not all are. Despite all our love and acceptance and inclusion, therapies and special education, wishing to think they are just like everyone else, some will never progress past a certain mental age, in some cases, that of a toddler. That is not a harsh statement or a judgment on them, but that is a reality.
The idea that every kid with Down’s Syndrome is equal to every other kid or even every other kid with Down’s Syndrome, that they all have very same ability to be their HS class Valedictorian, go on to college, be on the cheerleading squad, play sports with the “normal kids” without any special accommodations, is to ignore that special accommodations were and are made for them in many cases.
Helium President Randy Seffren said the facility cleared out an area to provide a safe space for the families and the children. “Special-needs children need to be treated in a special, safe way,” Seffren said. “These children were seated in our highest traffic area on one of the single busiest days that Helium is open.” “Seffren said the company loves to serve special-needs children and often works with Easter Seals.”
If Helium really wanted to exclude and shun them, they could have denied them entry or told the mother to bring them back after hours or insist that she rent the entire space out just for them, at a time when there wouldn’t be any “normal” kids around. However it sounds more like the management wanted to provide them with a safe area in which to play and enjoy their outing while also providing a safe area for the other children, their other paying customers.
Karol said she brought extra family members so there would be someone caring for each of her children. “Now you want to not only put us in a corner, away from everyone, showing everyone there, ‘Those different people have to be in a corner,’” Karol said.
First of all the fact that she brought “extra” family members so that “there so there would be someone caring for each of her children” seems to be a recognition to me that she recognized that her children needed extra help and assistance. Now think about at least 5 full grown adults being on the trampoline at the same time not only as her 5 children, but all the other children and I can see why the management wanted to clear out an area for just for them. I also wonder if she bothered to call them ahead of time to discuss their policy on “groups” and their needs and expectations. No - that would be asking too much.
You’ll all condemn those who abort, but many abort because they’ve heard from people like you and are terrified. News flash: Pro-life is more than lip service. If we ever want people to accept a Down Syndrome pregnancy, those children who are here already need to be loved and included. They need to be accepted, not talked about like they are huge liabilitie or ate somehow contagious. Shunning and excluding the disabled is not pro-life.
Of course children and adults with Down’s Syndrome and Autism and all other mental and physical disabilities should be loved and accepted. I do not believe that any child should be aborted and I am absolutely against aborting children with Down’s Syndrome or other disabilities and I especially applaud those people who adopt these children. But I also think it is a disservice to the parents, biological and adoptive and their disabled children to make claims that their children are and must be treated just like any other children.
That is not to say that they should be treated poorly, shunned, excluded, “bullied”, etc. but at the same time, these parents refer to their children as being “special needs” but when someone rightly acknowledges that they actually have “special needs”, some of these same parents get offended. They can’t have it both ways IMO.
Acknowledging the difficulties that parenting a child or children with Down’s Syndrome should not be; ever be an excuse to abort them. Rather we should be supportive of these parents while also acknowledging just how difficult and challenging it can be without pretending it is otherwise.
Some who are “advocates” for the disabled try to ignore these facts and some of the worst are parents of disabled children who actually shun and ostracize other parents of disabled children from talking about just how hard it can be. They don’t want other parents of these kids to talk about it as they think that will put their children into a negative light.
Down Syndrome and Autism: Behavior and Aggression
And I strongly think that we also should acknowledge that “mainstreaming” children with pronounced “special needs” into regular schools and classrooms (see my post # 15) does not only inhibit their children from accomplishing all they are capable of accomplishing, but also impedes the quality of education that the other children without disabilities and special needs deserve.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.