Cautiously weighing in here. When I saw the headline for this thread, I knew right away this was going to be a child with disabilities.
First of all there is much information we do not have about this situation. There are several clues however, if we take what has been reported as true. (the source of information should always be critically assessed). We do not know the specific nature of Calista’s disability or emotional problems. “Facts” which have been reported include a history of DHS and CPS involvement, accusations of neglect, reports that she was not properly being looked after (i.e. the school supplying personal hygiene products). Her father says that Calista was a “compulsive liar”. This tells us that she was able to communicate. It also indicates there was dysfunction in the family. It seems clear to me that there was more going on here than just her “impairments”. They were advised not to tie her to her bed for “safety reasons”, how about humane reasons? How were her siblings treated? We assume, perhaps incorrectly, that all of her difficulties can be attributed to her “special needs”. I suspect (obviously I don’t KNOW) that some of her behaviours at least were a result of her upbringing, the way she was treated, and the dynamics in the family. One example is the reference to past attempts to “escape”.
Amraann points out that people with physical disabilities are treated differently than those with cognitive/developmental/intellectual disabilities. I am not familiar with supports in the US but I have no doubt this is true for a number of reasons. One, is that those of us who are able to speak up and advocate for ourselves have being so increasingly over the past 30 years or so years with the advent of the disability rights movement and the resulting discrimination legislation that has been put in place in many countries. For those of us with physical disabilities the removal of barriers is easier to identify and tackle, and when barriers are removed, and adequate supports put in place, the impact of our physical differences to those of the majority is ameliorated. I believe this strategy can be applied to those with cognitive/developmental/intellectual disabilities as well. Kool Look points out that all children have special needs. I agree very much with this point. In fact all children have common needs as well, food, shelter, security and unconditional love (help me out, Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs anyone?). How those needs are satisfied will not be the same for all, and this is where equality does not necessarily mean being treated the same. Amraann hit the nail on the head - the problem is lack of support for disabled people and their families. Disabled children only have their parents and the community to advocate on their behalf. Factors such as financial resources, family supports, education, access to information, geography and previous experience with disability prior to becoming parents of a disabled child, to name just a few, have an impact on the ability of families to properly advocate on behalf of their children. Even in Canada where we supposedly have universal healthcare, access to services for people with disabilities varies drastically depending on where you happen to live. We need to have a basic strategy of removing barriers where possible and providing supports where removing barriers is not enough. By barriers I don’t just mean providing ramps and curb cuts for wheelchair users like myself. Its much more complex, barriers come in the form of policy, financial and social to name a few. Society is built around the needs of the non-disabled majority but the truth is everyone has the potential to experience disability either directly or indirectly and this is especially true with an increasing ageing population. There is after all only one alternative to growing old. It is in all of our best interest, not just those directly affected now, to ensure proper supports are in place for those considered not “normal” or fully functioning.
I sincerely hope the cause of this fire will be fully investigated and found to be accidental. I am not accusing the parents of intentionally killing their daughter; on the other hand I won’t be surprised if that turns out to be the case. The pending foreclosure on the house was reported in a post here, though I didn’t see it in any of the links I read. Could this have been a factor? Again I don’t know about the US but in Canada there have been a number of cases in the news of parents killing their disabled children. I have no doubt this has always occurred, we are just finally hearing about it more. There was a case being discussed on the news this morning here of a mother who drowned her 2 year old autistic daughter when she was told there was no cure. Another renowned Canadian case is that of Tracey Latimer, a 9 year old girl born with Cerebral Palsy. Tracey’s father put her in the family car and directed the exhaust into the car. Once she was dead, he put her to bed and claimed she died in her sleep. Autopsy of course revealed her cause of death and he then claimed it was a “mercy” killing. The publicity surrounding her case has been very controversial since her death. It’s a much longer story that I won’t get into now but my point about her case is that with the exception of the disability community, Latimer has received a huge amount of public support. He was recently released on parole after serving 7 years in prison. Most people believe he should never have gone to prison in the first place. If anyone is interested in hearing more about the controversy surrounding the Latimer case, it is being addressed this afternoon on CBC Radio at 4pm Eastern time this afternoon. You can access the program live on the internet by going to
www.cbc.ca and clicking on radio – follow the links from there.
Climbing off my soapbox now. Sorry for such a long post and thank you to those of you who took the time to read it.
Sorry if that makes me look bad, but extra money comes in handy when you are paying for all their therapies and meds out-of-pocket because of crappy insurance.
