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« I Write These Free-Thought Posts, and Then Have Absolutely NO IDEA How to Categorize Them. | Main | Discombobulated »

August 10, 2007

Comments

Jess

Very good post. I am ashamed to admit that when I was about 8 years old I did a project on blindness and I did the whole blidnfold game.

I was one of about 4 Jewish people in my high school and I got tired of having to be a representative for my religon whenever my school did some kind of diversity fair.

A few years later I was having a conversation with some classmates and a professor about being a asked to represent your minority and we joked that when people start asking you questions assuming you know about "all the jews" or "all black people" or "all lesbians" it's like they assume every Jew or Lesbian or whatever convenes in some underground lair once a year to reach a group consensus.

Lisa

Jess,

Well, as a representative member who has just returned from the underground lair of the blind, we decided to forgive you for your blindfold activity since you were only eight. : )

Shannon

I really like your idea about topics instead of people-groups.

This post reminds me of something that happened in an airport the other day. Nat started in flirting with a teenaged boy in a wheelchair, who seemed to have CP. Cole was concerned because Nat started to copy his facial expressions. But that's what Nat is into these days--mimicking--and it means she wants to make friends. I told Cole that the dude was probably used to kids staring or doing something similar all the time, since that was his life, and he could probably handle it and not mind since Nat is obviously a tiny child with zero social graces and also obviously liked him and wanted to connect (plus she's super cute). Cole was all "oh, I never thought of it like that!"

The disabled woman who lives in our building can't open her hands all the way. She and Nat have developed this thumb-based high-five, due to Nat copying her gestures. It's sweet, actually.

All this is just to say that you are so right, there aren't rules. I don't like those lists either (as pertains to gay families or adoptive families or interracial families etc.). I think they scare people from asking real questions and even if you put your foot in your mouth, how are you supposed to learn if you don't ask questions? I'd rather be asked any day.

And if my neighbor didn't like Nat copying her hand gestures, I'd expect her to say so, since how else would I know? (But she loves it, actually!)

Lori

I stopped in by way of Snickollet, and I just wanted to say I really liked this post. My husband - has CP - has had people do the wheelchair activity in the past, but he did it for administration at his college campus, to give them an idea of just how inaccessible the campus actually was. But I hadn't considered the idea that it could instill a fear of helplessness at the same time on the part of "normals" - true enough.

Thanks for a thought-provoking post.

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