The Christianville Spirit: Insulting Our Inteliigence

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

April 26th, 2017-TCS # 542

Hej, My Readers! That is The Swedish Greeting for Hello, said just like “Hey” only with a Swedish Twang to it. So, I have Special Needs. That is really No Surprise but, Sometimes, I need things “Adapted” or “Edited” to help me in Whatever I need to do. Edited, actually sounds nicer. I realize that Yes, I will need certain things Edited throughout My Life, but How Much is too much? Well, My Mom and I had an unplanned discussion about that. My Mom and I always have the Best Discussions that just come out of No Where. So, She told me of an App that allows People with Special Needs to Talk to one another. A Special Needs Facebook, if You will. For The Record, Anything I say in This Newsletter is Respectful but, also Honest, so I do not mean to Offend Anyone either Reading this or Know What what I am talking about. Just thought I would mention that before I get too far into This. Anyway, so, I check this App out. I gave it a little preview, see The Screenshots, Video, and Read any Reviews. My Mom told me that She thought that It is a Good Idea, but also has Problems. Because There was not a Way to screen the Users for Safety Concerns. Because We see The Good in People and Trust Everyone. I was not impressed with it Either. You see, although It is Harsh to think about or even Say, Often, Special Needs People are treated like a Child or An Overgrown Child, If You are a Young Adult like Me. Basically, Too Much Adaption or Too Much Editing, to make it seem like Special Needs People are just not smart and assuming that They need things in Literally Baby Steps (and, Yes, with Certain Things, We do!). I read the description of The App and I felt that it was written as if Telling a Child that They are “Special” and that This App could help them communicate among Other “Special” People and Their Families. Making the Word, “Special” to mean that You are Standing Out and VERY Different than Everyone Else. And, It is Okay to be Different, but not THAT Different. The Video to encourage people to download this app was the Song, “Can You Tell Me how to get to Sesame Street?”. Very Child-like Song. Later, It mentions that You can see what Friends are up to, Communicate, and Basically Everything that You can do on Facebook. Then, at the End, It mentions that It has all the Photo Editing stuff in it that You could dream of. After reading The Beginning of The Description, and At The End of it, It mentions The Photo Editing, like I was thinking, “Most People, not even Me, know how to do all that!”. This is Really Confusing and Sends a Mixed Message. We need something that protects us in The Areas that We need it and Don’t Insult Our Intelligence.

Anyway, The App aside here. I explained to My Mom that, Sometimes, with Respect to The Maker of The App, Some People have The Most Brilliant Idea in Their Head and Once It is out of Their Head, Getting it off The Ground is Very Challenging and Maybe did not come out the Way that They had hoped. I think, that is an Issue with Really Anyone. Heck, I have that Problem myself. I get Brilliant Ideas for Things, Put them on Paper, and They don’t turn out the way I wanted or It is hard for Me to get it off The Ground. Now, not to Single People out here, But There are People with Special Needs that need to have things in Easy Mode. I understand that. But, To Me, as PTLSer, It is an Insult to My Intelligence. I preach this all the Time but, It always need Repeating, PTLS Family Members, Your Child is Much Smarter than You realize! Too often though, That  is the Most Common Issue with PTLSers and Even People with Special Needs in General, People do not realize how Smart that We are. Now, Yes, We may need help with Doing Certain Things like Cooking, Grooming, or Things to Accomplish Something that We want to do. Even though Your Child may not speak very well, We are Very Smart inside, soaking Everything Up and Know More than You Think. So, Often Teachers, Doctors, and Yes, Even Parents, don’t give us enough credit. We are Limited and Thought to be Less than Others, Every Time You say, “My Child has Special Needs”. All in all, Basically, We want to be treated like Everyone Else, with Respect and Sensitivity. We do have Limits that need to be Respected, but at The Same Time, Don’t Treat us like a Little Child. 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. We may have Special Needs, but We are Very Unique!