Thursday, April 14, 2011

Of interest

4:02 PM 2 comments






















Jennifer Johannesen has a lovely post about sons Angus and Owen (above), siblings and 'equipment' called Brothers, vacations and wheelchairs.

"I am reminded of something in these photos – Owen’s wheelchair was an integral part of him and his identity," Jennifer writes. "Angus used to hang off of it, sit in it, decorate it, push it around… If we were walking down the street together Angus would always seek to maintain contact with it somehow."

Check it out.

What do you think of this? Woman who withheld cancer drugs from son with autism found guilty. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a single mom supporting a child with autism through gruelling chemotherapy.

Also of interest:

Disabled man sues Wal-Mart over firing

Deaf world: The rise of a new American culture

Right planet, right child

2 comments:

I find the LaBrie story sickening. I feel terrible for this woman -- for what she has endured and for what she will continue to endure. It's symbolic of what is to come, I believe, if the current politics of healthcare and disability continue in this country.

I haven't read the details of this story (can't bear to) and undoubtedly should, before commenting, but I heard it discussed on a radio call-in show last night, paired with a situation in which a depressed mother drove her car, with kids, into a lake. These did not seem remotely analogous to me, and no one talked about what it might be like to inflict cancer treatment on an autistic child. Adults are allowed to make their own choices about medical interventions (usually) but in the case of children, disabled or not, it seems to me that the legal system intrudes too far. Is society well-served by putting this woman in prison?

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