Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

Regarding (1), it really is about misdiagnosis as much as anything – of not recognizing the capabilities that people do have for what they are. It would be as if doctors and educators decided that all people with Down's syndrome had to stay in wheelchairs for their own safety because they couldn't explain intellectually how velocity and physical balance work, so that someone who might be, if given the chance, really super athletic would never get the chance to find that out. And that's the real tragedy.

I'm embarrassed to say (well, not to say it , but…) That I used to be someone who would make the argument "well, at least I am not retarded ." But I like to think I've matured; and now I think of intellectual disability as not all that different from mobility impairment: getting from place to place is not all that different from getting from idea to idea – as long as extra time, and little accommodation is given.


My rant on the subject really centers around that one statistic I've seen quoted on every single webpage I've read about cerebral palsy: "between 30% and 50% of all children with cerebral palsy have some level of mental retardation." such scare statistic, and if you look at it closely you'll see how full of lazy and fuzzy thinking it is. And yet, every time I questioned those numbers, I've been accused of bias because I have cerebral palsy, and therefore discounting the results of "scientific studies." But even acknowledging that every one of those tests and surveys were perfectly accurate, without the smidge of error, what difference would it make in pamphlets written for parents and teachers ifthat factoid read: "between 50% and 70% of children with cerebral palsy have normal or, above normal, intelligence."?