Bad Mommy, Bad Daddy - I read this in "Touched by a Child." I is SO what Bill and I talk about with some people who feel their child is a candidate for Special Ed - but they really don't have a label - nor do they want to. They want services but they don't want the sigma that comes with those services. CRACKS me up. Pisses me off because these people are usually the ones that are NEVER happy with ANYTHING they're getting from the school. And they certainly don't work WITH the team. I have many people in circles I run with that do this. I just want to shake them. Not only do they make it hard for the rest of us - they really make it hard for their kids. Labels are part of it. No, they don't DEFINE your child - they DESCRIBE the type of treatment or services that your child will receive or is eligible for. Labels don't bother me in the least. *I* know who *I* am - I know who S is and I know to Whom we belong. Whatever *people* want to call us - doesn't mean anything.
"What I think the political correctness debate is about is the power to be able to define. The definers want the power to name. And the defined are now taking that power away from them." Ruthe Stover
Again, what does it really matter. I remember being very happy when we got S's "label". Because for once when I uttered the word autism people would understand. Do they "get" S from that word - do they see the total frustration we go through or the utter joy? No, but would they ever? No. But they DO get that she needs extra patience, she's not trying to do bad. So, the label works.
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