Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The value of my life

   It all started   on  Monday  night which  is my English  class. Now  i   want to say  i really like this teacher  she is  nice and has  tolerated   taught me two  semesters now. 

  We  are  reading a book  by Toni  Morison called Sula  in the book  a mother  kills  her  son  after  he  comes back  after  fighting  in the  war and  has  a addiction   to  drugs.   After  discussing this  fact   the  teacher asked us  to  write of all the ways  it was  moral  or immoral  for  the character to kill her son.   After writing stuff down   we discussed it  and  someone said  it was  ok to kill  her  son  because   he can not  take  care of himself.


    It  hit me like a fist   I am   20 years old and  still live at home.  Many  people with disabilities  spend their  adult lives  under supervision of  others.      Dose  this mean that  we all  should die.   I asked the teacher and told her  to  erase the  point that  it was invalid  yet  she left it  up there.     I  know  the character was once  able bodied  and    had  regressed to  a infant level but   that sould not mean death  right.   I  voiced  my option  and ended class on a high  note with laughter



 Tuesday:  I  went   to an  online  support group for people with CP. ( IF  you  want to know  what group   message me  below)  I  then saw this  link to a research  of  scientist  trying to stop  brain damage  which results in  CP.    Now  i am  100 percent  against that  abortion  because  of  disabilities is wrong and   i am not supper religious.  This  is  not  right  what  they are trying to do to my disability.    Why  used the word  damage  or  broken.    I am not broken  because   of my disabilities.  I  have speech  differences  and  movement differences and   behavior differences, yet  i am not  broken  far  from it. 
  As a  young person  i am   trying to find  my place in the world and   how  is  anyone with disabilities   supposed to develop  good self  esteem  if   scientist  are  saying that   I   was a mistake that   should   be  avoidable with science .  Having a disability  is  a part  of me  I do not  know differently.  Do  I  wonder what its like  not to have a disability?    sometimes  yes.   Would  I  want a cure for  CP?No  way.   I know  I do not  know what it feels   like not to have a disability but  come  on  guys  you  mean to tell me that it the best thing in the world doesn't   everyone have problems.  struggles. 
I wish  if science was  being done to help  people with disabilities   speak, move  learn   easier instead  of  abortion.    I wish people  without  disabilities  would stop lowing  the achievement  bar  for us.     that would make a  bigger difference.

      What do u all think




5 comments:

Amy said...

I think you are absolutely right. You are not broken! I'm so proud of the way you stand up for yourself and work to educate others, and I hope that one day my daughter is as great a self-advocate as you are.

Vivielle said...

You are right and I am very glad that I found your blog. :)

Adelaide Dupont said...

Definitely agree with what you say about people lowering the achievement bar.

That is definitely lowering someone's value in the eyes of themselves, their community and society.

Glad you voiced your opinions and got your fellow students to think.

It is science's role to embrace and learn from mistakes, not to get rid of them.

And, yes, the science you talk about is done, but it will not get the publicity that this sort of science would do.

(Probably a distinction between pure and applied science).

And I think people with disabilities who have scientific bents and abilities should use them to show the value of life and diversity.

Laura Gilmour said...

I was actually thinking of doing a similar post after finding a hate-filled eugenics website that featured a post about a beautiful seven year old with a severe facial deformity. The author of this website spoke about this little girl as if she were some monstrosity and insulted the family for pursuing lifesaving medical treatment for her. The little girl's family (even though her story is in the media a lot) has taken down their blog. I wonder if this was in response to hateful people like that blogger. I think what needs to be done in our society is not eugenics, but increased acceptance of differences. I hope there will someday be a day when a severely disabled indvidual in a public place will be treated with the same respect as everyone else. As you have had the experience of being black, AZ, I'm sure you're well aware of a time (and even still some today) where individuals were rejected for their skin color. Let there be some day where people also do not react negatively to other differences such as disabilities.

Lauri said...

Beautifully said! I couldn't agree more. I am so glad I found your blog, too! Thanks for liking Ollibean on FB :) My son is twelve and on the road to being the great self advocate that you are.

I know there will be a time when we are all accepted for exactly who we are..this is the civil and human rights issue.

Look forward to reading more from you!

Did you see the article about Tres Whitlock on NPR? There is a link to it on Ollibean page..he is our good friend ..the discrimination he's faced because of his disability is beyond belief. He's out there changing things though just like you!

Lauri