Beebo wrote:
You guys are all sad. I hope the best for you, but imagine your happy lives coming to a dead halt, and you actually have to deal with some bad reality? I have some for you...
A friend of mine has a kid. Born with autism and profound retardation. Doesn't speak, said to have the emotional/intellectual capacity of 2 year old. The latter I argue with, she's much smarter than that. But she went to school every day in a SHORT BUS. (capitalized for those of you who need help spotting flash points.) She learned things there; she can do things on the computer, can do a little sign language (maybe 20 words)... They teach the kids what they can at the special ed school. I can tell from watching her with these special ed programs that she knows some math.
Okay. So at 18, these kids become wards of the state, to be cared for to the best of the state's ability. There are good institutions and bad ones. At the bad ones, who knows what happens to your kids? I'll begin at rape and leave the thought there. You can fill in the other things. So, my friends try to find a good institution. They visit places in IL and WI. Sometimes the WI places don't mind taking kids in from IL; sometimes they do. It's all paperwork... But the overriding consensus is, they didn't want her. She's big, strong, and recently has been experiencing panic attacks. How big? 6ft-something, about as tall as her dad. Somewhere in the 250lbs range (don't talk to me about diets -- she's been on one for 12 years -- because she's not physically active, her calorie burn rate is different.) And she's strong. Can beat up her mom and dad if in the throws of an attack. Fortunately, no one ever taught her to use her fists. Yeah, the parents obviously don't fight back; they're trying to contain her. Did I mention her dad's a cop? She still can whomp him.
So what do you do? You can take the girl to a judge, and argue for custody, basically setting yourself as the ward of this incapacitated adult. Why? Because you can care for her better than the state's facilities. Why? Because she's your daughter (duh) And so, here you are. And you somehow have to keep an eye out on her all day (and yet you have to work.) And the years go by... I think she's 19 now.
Anyway, every day she went off to school, don't you imagine they'd love that she could take the "big bus", and go to the "big school?" And have boyfriends, jobs, be off to college.. A normal life? When she hit puberty, they thought she'd like to hang out in her room with her music. But her music is "Barney" and "Blues Clues" shit. So she has Bon Jovi and Meatloaf tapes. Her parents' stuff.
Do you imagine that the parents would love for this not to have happened? Yeah, but its their burden to bear, and they do. If in their position, I think I'd be as mad as hell, then finally resigned to it. How about you?
My point: you can call people "retarded" and make jokes about little buses and shit. But you're not hurting the truly retarded: you're hurting their parents. And they have enough to internalize without you adding flash points for them to get edgy about.
Chances are, the person you're deriding is merely stupid, or at least, doesn't agree with your POV. Tease them for that.
Why? Why should we make CSFMB a "more pc" place, when all we want to do is hang out all call each other retards? Because people who deal with "burdens" also end up here, needing some entertainment. And unlike for you, "retard" is one of their emotional buttons. One that's easy to get enraged when pressed.
I may Forward this to Terry Boers, without your name attached to it of course.
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