Article about a mother's fight to help her son communicate

[melpomene]

Doctors said my son's brain was damaged ? but he was bright

"Nihal Armstrong was trapped in his body. For 17 years his mother, Rahila Gupta, fought to persuade the authorities that her son, who was severely affected by cerebral palsy, was intelligent and could communicate."

and?
hardly anything new that a person with cp can be bright

So sad

Riven that's terrible. A lot of people are completely ignorant about disabilities but you'd expect the doctors involved in your dd's care to not be the same .

just thing one day people will realise dd does understandeverything

Dont know how to put this without sounding holier than thou...

Anyway. I am a portage worker. When I am introduced to a new child I assume they are 'bright'. To do anything else would be to limit my expectations and therefore their potential from the get go.

From what I have observed from the majority of the people I work with, they do the same. Admittedly we work with very young children so we are not going to attempt reading and writing etc. But what is to be gained from treating them as if they are stupid?

Intelligence and understanding are such broad terms anyway. The medical defininitions are far too narrow and frankly - pants.