SN parents, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this

WendyWeber · 2007-09-14T23:24:45+00:00

This is from a Facebook group local to me: <<Despite some forums' inevitable silliness (Pictures of Dogs Driving Cars, anyone?), they have helped some serious political causes, and seemingly given publicity to every corner of small towns like xxxxx, especially its takeaways. In this strange but oddly charming environment, staff become local superheroes. Whether a sandwich shop assistant with encyclopaedic football knowledge, or a pizza chef with He-Man?s physique, Facebook's global reach theoretically gives them as much celebrity exposure as the Beckhams. In fact, there is even a "xxxxxx Celebs" group. Instead of obvious "celebs", users are invited to submit photographs and discuss "alternative" famous people. Perhaps infamous, as the site mostly honours people walking around town menacingly, muttering (sometimes drunken) gibberish - the local "characters". Surely this should be cause for amusement? MOCKING Unfortunately, not everyone sees the funny side. Someone criticised the group for mocking these "celebs" because some of them had disabilities, even comparing us to whichever vile, emotionally redundant people assaulted X>> (a local lad with SN) <<I explained we weren't laughing at people being in wheelchairs - rather laughing at their "joie de vivre" and confidently eccentric personalities, which last time I looked didn't need medical certificates. In fact, calling it immoral to make jokes about people just because they might have a completely irrelevant medical condition, highlights this "complete irrelevance" even more and plays into the hands of the prejudiced. We laugh with Big Issue Man not because he's in a wheelchair, but because he makes amusing requests for money and to borrow peoples' phones for hours when he doesn't even need to make an urgent call. We laugh at Harold because he makes funny, off-the-cuff statements, not because he's been speculated to have a learning disability. This is actually to their benefit because it celebrates their humanity rather than the "labels" many of them have spent a lifetime suffering. Whether these may have been indirect causes of their conditions are unclear, but we're not sodding brain surgeons are we?>>

4 replies

WendyWeber · 15/09/2007 00:24

This is from a Facebook group local to me:

(a local lad with SN)

OP posts:

lojomojo · 15/09/2007 01:46

The person (not you) who wrote this on facebook sounds a nob to me. Unless they live with sn in any form in either the primary or secondary sense, then they have no right to jokingly jest. Its like the nob who called my son a spastic when my son fell over him, my son is actually a spastic as it happens he has Cerebral Palsy his form is called spastic dyplegia, the man wouldn't of known that but you should never call anyone a spastic even in jest especially not my 8 yr old. They say these things with a laugh and a smile, but it no less offensive, to 'have a giggle' about someones inability to merge into the sort of bland life us ''normal'' people have, as it is to mock those who don't blend in so well (I hope ynkim) to jest/mock with a smile on your face is as offensive as it is to SERIOUSLY jest/mock, the more vunerable.

Recent stast say 9/10 handicapped people are bullied in one way or another every day.

lojomojo · 15/09/2007 01:49

Sorry I meanty to add its hurtful when the person jests with a smile on their face, it's even more hurtful to jest without a smile ... because thats when they truly mean the nasty comment.

AKUL · 14/01/2012 07:43

Hi I have a daughter with spastic dyplegia. She is 3 years old. she cab walk with an aid and she is now starting to have very little balance on her own. she has never crawled. only comando crawling she did and now she start to hold to things to stand up. she looks really scared to do new things. Has anybody passed this situation and did your children statr to walk indipendently? thankyou.

tabulahrasa · 14/01/2012 10:58

Akul - I'd start a new thread if I were you, so that anyone who might have experience will see it

As far as the statement goes...there's absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating the intentional humour of a man in a wheelchair, but when it's someone who isn't intending to be humourous and is a direct result of a disability - it's no different to laughing at the man in the wheelchair for not being able to use his legs.

Flip