Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Learning empathy by looking beyond disabilities

9:56 AM 4 comments

Check out this piece in the NY Times yesterday. Louise

4 comments:

I guess it's a good thing to do, but it never ceases to amaze me that people can be so narrow minded. I mean, really...port wine stains and albnism freaks kids out, enough to make them "judge" and mistreat those kids? Wow. Sad. I guess we need to feed babies pablum before moving on to the big stuff.

Hi Louise,

I believe that the Pearls Project at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey is a step in the right direction. Moreover, such a program may have been able to save a student like Ben Tobias. However, we all need to remember, "We can create an endless number of initiatives and talk about inclusion until we are blue in the face, but the truest of human gifts, such as, 'empathy acceptance, friendship, and love' can only be given from one person to another. Hence, writing is wonderful, as human interaction should be the most logical and humane next step.

We all must also remain patient, understanding, forgiving and kind, as it may take some longer than others to open their minds, hands, and hearts. For, is this not what each of you did as parents?

Matt Kamaratakis

It's good to read something positive, I think -- that there are initiatives like this out there, especially given some of the horrific news we've been hearing!

I find it deeply depressing that 20 years after the ADA was enacted we still need such programs. Was inclusion in schools not part of the ADA? If children have not learned to accept minor physical differences noted in the NYT story what will happen when they come across a person with a profound disability? I see no positive but rather a society resistant to inclusion.

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