The following story is from another blog found at: http://likeashark.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html
The daughter is 8 years old and has PDD-NOS and the mom wrote this blog:
hosed
I was watching this clip while drinking my coffee this morning. Miss M wandered over to my computer, leaned on me. "Who's the kid?" she asked. I explained about Alex Barton, Ms. Portillo, and the Survivor/Belgen-Bersen/Kindergarten program that he attended and was subsequently squeezed out of.
She watched video clip. She looked at the captions on the screen. Being the sensitive type that she is, I thought that she would shed tears for Alex, or get on her soapbox about the injustices of the world.
"Why do they call it 'special needs'?" she asked.
I explained that some kids need extra support. I explained that schools need extra help in order to help the kids that need it.
"Huh," she said slowly, "why do they call it special? If kids need it, they need it. It's like glasses."
She went into the kitchen to eat a cold pancake. She came back in, munching it taco-style. I was still staring dumbly at the screen.
"This is what I think. Mom. You know how Andrew in my class has Dolores? How she helps him act appropriately, and calm down, and play on the yard. Is that 'special'?"
I answered in the affirmative.
"That is so lame. There's nothing special about it. It's called learning. It's called school. Duh."
I sipped my coffee some more.
She came back again, shaking her pancake taco at me.
"And that guy? At the end, he said that maybe they should teach the kids about understanding differences? This is what I have to say: Yeaaaah. Maybe they should."
She started up the stairs. She turned. "Last thing, Mom. And then I will not talk about this anymore. But that Alex kid?"
She shook her pancake at me again. She forgot to close her mouth when chewing. We've worked so hard on that.
"That poor Alex kid. He sure got hosed."
Indeed.
Maybe people with autism are the normal ones and we are the "special" ones .... just saying.
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