Disability is Natural

Recently, I reviewed the article, "Disability is Natural." Having a disability is not something to try to hide, or be ashamed of. In fact, it is society's problem in not having a better understanding of what "disability" really means. A mother may mourn over the child they feel they have lost when they learn that their son or daughter has a physical impairment or cognitive disorder. We (society) are so quick to apply labels to everything, probably to make the rest of "us" feel better. Placing labels on students in a school setting is necessary to a point. It is how the student receives the services they need through properly allocated funding. As mentioned in class, however, beyond school walls, the "disability" shouldn't matter at all.

After reading this article, I recalled an episode of a recent "Desperate Housewives" episode I watched about a month ago that really struck me. In this particular episode, the character Lynette discovers after giving birth to twins that one twin is born with a physical disability. Lynette grieves over the fact that her child will not be "perfect." There is a scene where a therapist visits the house to assist Lynette and her husband in showing them how to begin caring for their son. The baby cries uncontrollably, and Lynette walks out of the room in frustration and anguish as she realizes she may not be able to handle her son's disability and the emotions that are driven with it.

In the next scene, Lynette's son is about 15 and wants her to make him a sandwich as he sits in his wheel chair. Just as she is about to make it for him, she refuses, and tells him that he is perfectly able to do it himself. With some sulking, he makes it on his own, and when he does, seems to finally realize (as does Lynette) that his disability really doesn't limit him to the extent they think it does.

There is then a wonderful scene where Lynette and her husband are at a graduation ceremony where their son gives a moving speech about how his parents believed in him and didn't let his disability get in the way of becoming what he is today-valedictorian and head of his class. At the end of the speech, Lynette stands up, tears in her eyes, proud of the son she has raised and helped to be a normal, accepted, talented student.

The final scene shows Lynette waking up from surgery. While she is pregnant with twins, she realizes everything that had been going through her mind was all a dream. She learns that sadly, one of her twin babies had died during surgery-the one who was thought to have had a possibility for having a disability at birth. While her husband reassures her that the other baby is healthy and fine, Lynette again grieves over what could have been, and a child that she has now lost.


Reflection: I hope I can find this episode so that I can attach it to this blog. While Desperate Housewives programming isn't usually this introspective, I was deeply moved and impressed that to writers chose to address this topic so poignantly and realistically. While I am sure there are so many parents who just don't know what to do or where to turn when they find out their child has a disability, many, I hope, realize that their chidren are wonderful gifts with many possiblities who deserve to be loved, cared for, and accepted.