MovieChat Forums > Life Goes On (1989) Discussion > Disabilities

Disabilities

posted 14 years ago by blynnpatton
6 replies | jump to latest

Please stop with the insensitive questions and statements about intellectual disabilities or any other kind of disability.

"Full and half retard" statements are offensive. I don't care whether or not you are talking about an actor's performance. They are still offensive. Think about how such comments could make someone feel if they actually have a disability or have a loved one who does.

The same goes with questions like, "why are they so stupid?" or "why can't you train them like a house cat?" It's mean to compare a person to an animal. Again, think about how insensitive questions like these affect other people. I actually saw someone ask the two above questions. They are very offensive even if you say that you aren't intending to offend. Why would you ask such questions?

I have a niece who has Down Syndrome. I love her very much. She is a person just like everyone else. She also has many talents and abilities just like everyone else.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] blynnpatton 14 years ago

If people treat people on the boards in mean or insulting ways, they will think it's okay to do it off the boards. If people keep saying mean things, I put them in the ignore box.

Also, when we stand up for what is right, there will always be those who are rude or make fun of us. That doesn't mean we shouldn't stand up for what is right.

I do not have an intellectual disability. Intellectual disability is the new term for mental retardation.

[–] amazon423 14 years ago

To blynpatton-I am on your side. I didn't know the new PC was Intellectual Disability. People who do have this can have all the way from very low IQ to near normal IQ. They are very loving and they all have different strong points. Life Goes On showed that range when Corky was able to be mainstreamed but his friend was not intellectually able to handle the work that Corky could. I keep wondering whether Corky in real life ever learned to drive a car as he was trying to do in the show? I remember a girl in Special Ed who was in a classroom I had to pass to my assigned room for the day and all she wanted was a big hug. It made her day to get a hug although most of us had to bend over. I don't think she was over 4'10". We also have a young man in our church that has excitable outbursts when he sees someone he knows or something goes wrong or someone needs something that has been previously handed out before they got there. The whole church is aware of his problems and everyone near him calms him down. He doesn't have Downs but something else that I don't know the name of. My personal method is to not judge initial impressions but observe before I figure out what their problem is that causes the behavior. Being a counselor taught me to observe first before judging and not to judge first. Sometimes parents don't teach and enforce proper behavior in children which is not intellectually challenged.

[–] blynnpatton 14 years ago

Thank you for your support. Many people don't seem to understand how mean it is to make fun of people who have disabilities or to make fun of anybody, for that matter.

My niece has Down Syndrome. She is very bright.

I just found out recently my self about the term intellectual disability. They still use mental retardation in legal and insurance settings, but professionals and organizations who work with people, who have intellectual disabilities, use the term intellectual disability.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] jayme_franklin 10 years ago

I had a babysitter whose sister had Down's Syndrome, and she was very loving. However, she got tall and gained weight. I remember being scared as hell whenever she'd pick me up to hug me. There were times where I was so scared that she'd crush me bc I would struggle to breathe, and couldn't let out a scream for my babysitter to know I was seriously being crushed. She nearly broke all my ribs.