And now I'm BAWLING.
See, here's the thing. It's a very scary place to be when you have to hope that the world changes before your child reaches the age to realize how cruel it can be.
People will say and do what they say and do, but when it's your kid that's the potential butt of the jokes or the recipient of the slurs? It matters.
It matters a lot.
That's why the R word hurts me and so many other people. It infers that people with intellectual disabilities are stupid. They're not.
If you've met my child, you'd know that she knows sooo many things. She surprises people daily. She deserves to be treated with respect. So do all people with differing abilities.
This experiment may have made me cry, but it also gave me a glimmer of hope, knowing that there are people out there that are not afraid to take a stand for decency.
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6 comments:
I cried through the whole thing as well. I hope the world changes fast for our babies. I know everyone experiences hurt in their lives, but it shouldn't be for having intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Sad as the clip was I'm glad I saw it. It made me think and want to be more of a voice than I have been. :)
Well said, Crystal. Our kids aren't stupid at all! They just operate on a different speed level than our super-fast, impatient society.
Thanks for posting the clip--I missed it. I'm sharing it on my blog too. I hope everyone that it will commit to speaking up in these situations!
Thanks for posting that... didn't get a chance to catch it live. I actually got tears in my eyes when the first lady spoke up in his defense. I was just so happy and proud that others will do that. That there are people out there who see our children for who they are... people.
You're such a wonderful advocate. I wanted to join a FB group yesterday called I Hate Random Capitalization, but in their info box, they said it's so [r word], so I couldn't. (not anonymous, this is Susan/Babalu, but, as usual, I can't remember my Google Username)
Crystal, I had planned not to watch it on TV. I thought it would be to hurtful. Since you posted it, I went ahead, I figured I would just quickly click it off if it was to much. I watched the whole thing. I actually didn't cry. I got chills when the man (who stood up for the bagger) talked about his sister w/DS. I am slways worried about my older girls. I know they will have to experience some crulety too and to see that man...I was beaming. HE IS A GREAT ADVOCATE and I hope my children will be too. Thanks for sharing! xoxo
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