Sun-Beams is a collection of links to stories, articles, photos, or videos I have come across that inspired, informed, or encouraged me, or just caused me to think, as well as my favorite photo posted on my other blog, Violet Film, from the past week.
Inspiration:
Teen With Down Syndrome Earns Eagle Scout Rank – Impressive!
Dream Fulfilled – Junior Varsity Soccer Player with Cerebral Palsy
Heartache:
A Disabled Boy’s Death and a System in Disarray
Man Sues Cops/DA for Confusing Cerebral Palsy for Drunkenness
Photo of the Week:
I was listening to the radio the other day. This DJ can be kind of crass and inappropriate (I do not usually listen to him), but on this particular day, he chose to be a good human. He was angry. Very angry. And rightly so. He was talking about how the TSA essentially harassed a differently abled adult on the way to Disney. This DJ can be a real jerk, but even he realized the wrongness of the TSA’s actions. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/tsa-304136-agents-security.html
I clicked on the link you provided, Anna, assuming it was going to be about an incident I read about recently, but it wasn’t. So that’s at least two outrageous stories involving the TSA and a disabled adult that have made the news lately – and I’m sure there are plenty of others that didn’t.
Nathan is growing into such a lovely boy and helping Daddy too.
I just read the article on the differently abled boy – and isn’t that a lovely way of describing him? So much better than dis-abled. We all know that security is necessary but where is the human in human being here?
I also prefer the term differently-abled and use it frequently. My children are differently-abled: Nathan has a way of bringing joy to others that isn’t possible for most people I know, and Sarah Kate is a marvel of confidence and happiness.
That Eagle Scout is also wearing an Order of the Arrow sash, which is another noteworthy scouting achievement.
My husband and I have been leaders in our sons’ Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop for about 6 years now. We’ve seen a number of boys blossom in our programs. One leader has said “Each of these boys come to us with ‘special needs’ and we deal with them all where they are, no matter what they are.” In most cases I’ve personally dealt with, the boys have been on the Autistic Spectrum, to a variety of degrees (and as one mom commented to me last night, “I see a LOT of ADHD here.” Uhm, yeah.)
We have seen these boys blossom in the Scouting program. The most beautiful part of scouting, to me, is that the boys have a sense of team work, and to some degree, I suppose, there’s a bit of competition here or there – but really they’re ultimately only competing against themselves. Every boy can be an Eagle Scout. There isn’t room at the top for just a few. And they support one another along the way.
Last night we had our bridging and it was heartwarming to see the boys moving forward – especially as the older Boy Scouts welcome or encourage their little brothers into Cub Scouts or along their path in Cub Scouts.
Thanks for the information, Adrienne! I know very little about scouting, so I had no idea about the Order of the Arrow. I was a Girl Scout back in the day, and although I hadn’t really given it any thought, you are right that we worked together but also competed against ourselves – I assume Boy Scouts are the same way.
It is. And the leaders are there to help the boys along. One mom shared with me this weekend some of her anxieties about how her son will keep up as he gets older and the program transitions him to be more personally responsible for self-reporting his accomplishments to his leaders and she won’t be able to buffer for him. I reminded her that the leaders are there to help him and as parents we can help our boys find the units with the leaders who ‘get it.’
For my own son, we’ve had to remind him that when he needs help, there are certain leaders who he should seek out, and quite frankly, some who are less patient who he should avoid. There have been times that we have not let him go on an excursion if the “right” leaders were not going. To be sure, this does not mean that any of the leaders “coddle him.” Boy, howdy, they’re going to hold my boy accountable, and we really want them to – but there are some who have more patience than others and who make it ‘safer’ for him to make mistakes, even if they’re handling it in a guy way. (Does that make sense?)