WATCH: Special Penguin Inspires Kids With Disabilities

KETV ^ | Jan 27, 2022 | Jocelyn Brumbaugh

[nickcarraway]

A little African penguin named Rosie is making a big impact on children with special needs.

Veterinarians at Arizona's Odysea Aquarium first noticed Rosie's skeletal abnormalities when she was hatched in 2019.

"We knew very early in Rosie's development that she was a little bit different," Jessica Peranteau, director of animal control and education at Odysea Aquarium, told KNXV. "Penguins are able to sit up on their own when they get ready to start to walk, but Rosie was not showing us she could do that on her own. So we decided as a team we needed to give her a little bit of help.

[golux]

What outlandish beings are these? Erect as men, but hardly as symmetrical, they stand all round the rock like sculptured caryatides, supporting the next range of eaves above. Their bodies are grotesquely misshapen, their bills short, their feet seemingly legless; while the members at their sides are neither fin, wing, nor arm. And truly neither fish, flesh, nor fowl is the penguin; as an edible, pertaining neither to Carnival nor Lent; without exception the most ambiguous and least lovely creature yet discovered by man. Though dabbling in all three elements, and indeed possessing some rudimental claims to all, the penguin is at home in none. On land it stumps; afloat it sculls; in the air it flops. As if ashamed of her failure, Nature keeps this ungainly child hidden away at the ends of the earth, in the Straits of Magellan, and on the abased sea-story of Rodondo.

[hoe_cake]

This is very motivationa. and hopeful. My daughter was in a body cast and wheelchair in kindergarten. Her classmates learned that she was ok, even if her appearance wasn’t normal. If fact, because the cafetaria was downstairs, my daughter ate in the classroom and classmates were eager to sit with her and keep her company.

[hoe_cake]

cafeteria

[thesearethetimes...]

Beautiful.
Prayers for Rosie, and for your daughter, FRiend.

Tatt

[Carriage Hill]

Good story.

[nickcarraway]

Herman Melville is truly great. I wonder how many kids ever get to read him now. One of the best American authors.

[BBB333]

Nice story.

Have had a dog or two do that shuffle before...

[golux]

I re-read Moby Dick last year... It blew my mind. This time I read it just for fun, which I now know is exactly how it was written to be read. It is the greatest novel ever written, in my opinion. It is absolutely delightful. Melville... I wish I could just kiss him. In a manly way, of course. Speaking of which oh my goodness the sex in Moby Dick! And chapter 112. Stunning.

[piasa]

Clearly the author never saw them flitting about underwater with all the grace that swallows flit about in the air.

[golux]

I regret I have never seen a penguin flit about,

but many penguins are gay.

[golux]

The bloated penguins

never once did flit about

Like swallows in air