A New Blog Post about Justice

[Donna Thomson]

http://www.donnathomson.com/2012/08/...d-you-and.html

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Donna))))))

Interesting topic, as always.

Generally, I think that it is true that people tend to focus on one aspect of another person, without exploring the depth and breadth of that person.

There are those, who look at a person seated in a wheelchair, and they only see the wheelchair. Or they see a frail, elderly person, and they forget that that bent over, shuffling, tired and worn body once danced, gave birth, worked, served in the military, and experienced a full life.

That's one reason why I post photos of our family in Jon's hospital room, during his longer stays. I want the nurses and doctors to see him, when he was well, when he was young and strong, when he was out living his life very well.

In his heart and his spirit, he's still that vibrant young man.

While I primarily identify myself as mother, wife, friend, and careprovider, who I am isn't confined to those parameters. Although my opportunities are limited to pursue my other interests, I do have them.

When we categorize people, we devalue them.

For example, I just posted on funnylegs4's thread in the Advocacy and Activism forum regarding the 2012 Paralympics in London. Thanks to funnylegs4, I am now aware of the live streaming of the Paralympics. This is important, because in the U.S., NBC is only showing 5 hours of highlights. They claim that amount of time is all that they have the rights to show.

Balderdash!

Who makes up these rights that NBC has to follow allowing people in the U.S. only 5 hours of coverage? That is preposterous!

NBC figures that there is no interest in the U.S. in the Paralympics. They don't want to lose money by covering these Games as extensively as they did the 2012 Summer Olympics. Sponsors might be a challenge to acquire as well for more air time.

Why shouldn't the Paralympians garner as much televised coverage as the Olympians, as well as the same amount of praise and adulation for their accomplishments?

This is not equality. This is discrimination, which is derived from devaluing individuals with disabling conditions.

And NBC could actually be bold and brave and provide complete coverage, and perhaps society would start looking at persons with disabilities differently. NBC's Madison Avenue advertisers know how to hype anything. They could have played up the Paralympics during the Olympics and following them to peak interest. They did nothing.

That lack of attention for Paralympians, which I suspect is based essentially on greed, is why we have an uphill struggle to gain justice for persons with disabling conditions. That disdain trickles down to the masses, who just don't care. I truly doubt that the average TV viewer is complaining that the Paralympics aren't being shown. Some advocacy groups are perturbed, but where is the media coverage of that? Very little to none.

Unlike Olympians, Paralympians aren't regarded as athletes. They are regarded as disabled athletes. That one extra word seems to change everything.

"It's not easy being green."

Love & Light,

Rose

[Donna Thomson]

Thank you for your thoughtful response, Rose! I was thinking the same thing - I always put up photos in Nick's hospital room too. The doctors and nurses can actually misdiagnosed based on negative and incorrect assumptions about Nick's baseline affect when he's actually really sick or lethargic or whatever. They assume that because he has a severe disability, he's always like that! So, like you, I put up photos of him being his active, dynamic charming self (like in his picture in my signature :)