Now I am not a big time blogger and I know that my message will not reach the ears that matter, but I feel that I need to get my thoughts down on paper. I have always been a strong advocate to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to experience life to the fullest, from Adults to children. I write, as I know there are others out there that do read my material. Anyhoo...
Last week, browsing through my newsfeed, I came across a video montage on America's Funniest Home Videos of women doing stupid stuff. In that montage, was a woman on an adaptive swing that was meant for special needs. I had commented, that it makes me angry to see something like that, as there have been times that we have gone to the park and those swings have been broken, due to idiots doing stupid stuff on them. Long story short, there were some comments that supported my outrage and then there were some that didn't. There were some that called me a "Snowflake"( which btw doesn't bother me as I am from Canada, and we all know that Snowflakes bring on Blizzards, which can be inconvenient and mess up even the best of life's plans). Now normally I wouldn't be blogging about silly internet spats, as we all know a lot of them are fruitless. If there was ever a time where someone's opinions of something changed because the energy spent from a keyboard warrior, please alert the news. Anyway I digress. There was mention that the woman in that video might possibly be special needs herself, which I took into consideration when replying back to the post I had made. Throughout my exchanges with multiple people, it was suggested that I seek counseling for being a special needs parent.( Thanks for the concern, but really I have a better handle on my mental state, than a rude stranger), but it was the people who got all butt hurt that I had indeed called them.... wait for it.... IGNORANT ....*Gasp* I know. Not the dreaded "I" word.
Yes.. Ignorant. It made me realize that just because they all thought it was funny that a woman had gotten into an adapted swing, made an ass out of herself, not realizing just how insensitive it would be to those who rely on swings like that one, to enjoy something, like actual swinging Or maybe it would be insensitive that they were perhaps laughing at a person with a disability falling out of a swing and hurting themselves . Either situation, its ignorant. Their comments were ignorant. It just makes me want to be work harder and use my voice louder to advocate for those who deserve respect and don't get it.
Now don't get me wrong I love watching stupid videos on the internet. I am mindful of those that involve the destruction of other people's property and serious injury aren't particularly funny. My stupid internet video watching normally involves the funny stuff our fur babies do and cat knocking stuff off shelves. And I like watching people do dumb stuff, lets face it, we are hilarious. As for the rest of that montage, it was other women doing dumb stuff, just that one segment struck a nerve. It could have been that we have gone to playgrounds meant for special needs and things have been broken due to people being dumb. As everyone who knows, it isn't easy to calm down a child, who is cognitively delayed and doesn't understand, why they can't do the one thing they love to do at the playground. Those swings were things that most of us parents had to fight for at City Council Meetings to get put into our parks. A park is for EVERYONE.
With all that being said, we did go to a park today that had one adapted swing. As I strolled around watching over my own special needs children, I heard parents tell their children that, that particular swing was not for them, but for those who needed a little bit of extra support in enjoying the art of swinging.
I get it. People do dumb stuff all the time and at times it can be funny. When it comes to actions that result in hurting someone or breaking something that isn't yours, you need to ask yourself, why would you be offended by someone calling you ignorant, when it clearly isn't funny to someone else.
So parents of special needs children or the caregivers to those who are special needs, never stop advocating, ever. As there are so many people out there that are out of touch with what it means to be compassionate, understanding and accepting of the differences that makes us human.
Please enjoy a picture of my son, in absolute joy doing something that every child should be able to do, swinging. Snowflake Out.
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