This morning, I started my day by hearing on the radio about a woman who cowardly and anonymously wrote a letter to a grandmother of a 13 year old autistic child. She said that the child’s behavior was bothersome to her normal children and suggested that they should move or think about having the child euthanized. Really? Euthanized?
Obviously this person did not see this TED video about Derek Paravicini. This little bit of news has caused many to write and post on social networks today. As it should. My son had an autistic child in his class in regular primary school. He never found him bothersome. My son saw him as a human being. Diversity should be part of his world and our world because it is part of the world. It is how the world is.
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” ― Margaret Mead
I rarely put two quotes in my blog but Ms. Mead is right on the money. Maybe had this woman beed taught to think instead of reacting, she would have been able to see the human being inside the autistic child; a human being that did not ask to be born this way. He has no choice in how he is. She makes choices every day. We can choose to change our world by changing the way we think. Now is a good time.
Namaste!
Bianca
This personal blog was written by Bianca Pittoors. You may “share” it in its entirety. I respectfully request that you respect it as the intellectual property that it is. Thank you! All photos by Bianca Pittoors unless noted otherwise. 