Optimism on the Launch Pad
Today atSupport for Special Needs:Excerpt: Because I am who I am, I look at Schuyler ' s positive new school experience, and I wonder what ' s the catch. But being an overbeliever in Schuyler sometimes means extending that overbelief to those around her, too. So here we go. (Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog)
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - August 8, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Shouting Over the Walls
Today atSupport for Special Needs:Excerpt: So many of the discussions and emails I ' ve received lately have reminded me of how tall the castle walls can loom, and how deep the moat runs. I ' ve been told that my opinions on politics and other topics are distorted by the experience of being a disability parent. There was the email telling me that yeah, sure, kids in special education classes need more resources, but so do kids in gifted and talented programs, and I should be advocating for both equally. I ' ve been told that being a special education teacher or knowing people with kids with autism means understanding ...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - August 3, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
The Disposable and the Unseen
This morning at < a href= " http://supportforspecialneeds.com/2016/07/27/the-disposable-and-the-unseen/ " target= " _blank " > Support for Special Needs < /a > : < br / > < blockquote class= " tr_bq " > < i > < b > Excerpt: & nbsp; < /b > < /i > & nbsp; < /blockquote > < blockquote class= " tr_bq " > < i > When I read the story of the attack in Japan, it struck me that Satoshi Uematsu ’s position on the disabled as being a burden on their loved ones and a drain on Japanese society is grotesque and extreme, no doubt. But it echoes an argument made time and time again in this country as well, at school board meetings and ...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - July 26, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Acceptance, with an asterisk
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: When I was younger and more earnest, I wanted the fixes. I'm older and spiritually winded now, and I'm faced with the strong will of a daughter who's stretching her wings and exploring her own choices. When we talked about the idea of acceptance, and of looking for peace rather than solutions, Schuyler understood that. She's still not done trying to reshuffle the deck, though. And as hard to read as the future is right now, I don't expect that to change even a little. (Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog)
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - July 18, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
The Watcher
This morning at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: There's a lot more for Schuyler to unpack about this, some of it making zero sense at all. I'm not sure Schuyler entirely comprehends racism, except of course she understands being hated and abused or even just dismissed for being different, so I suspect racism's one she probably gets. It's hard to explain to her when she's probably safe and when she's not, because I don't know myself. Schuyler's white, she's a woman, and she has a disability. She'll probably be just fine in a way that is horribly unfair, until the day comes when she's very much NOT fine, also i...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - July 11, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Precarious Indifference
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: How would Schuyler have reacted in Hannah's situation? I can't say. I imagine she would respond differently, probably shutting down in frustration rather than trying to run. But how can I be sure? How can any of us know? This is why parents of young adults like Hannah Cohen or Schuyler or countless other responded to this story with such visceral fear and anger last week. We don't know how such an encounter would go, but we've been doing this long enough to presume that "happily ever after" isn't where the smart money goes. (Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog)
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - July 4, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Awkward Miracles
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: It's easy to think of Miracle League as a place of gentle interactions, but that's really not the case at all. The players push hard, although when someone gets knocked down, everyone goes full Chumbawamba immediately. The kids compete fiercely, but it's complicated, because they're not just competing with each other. They push themselves hard, they focus on the task at hand, and they are in a constant state of simultaneous conflict and negotiation with their disabilities. When professional athletes claim to leave it all on the field, this is what that really looks lik...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - June 26, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
No Atticus
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: When I look at the work I do, at the life I live as a father, I see a lot that I don't understand. I don't always think I'm providing what Schuyler requires, and I don't feel like I set the kind of example that she needs. She sees a father who has to watch pennies, who raises his voice sometimes, who gets impatient with the world and with her. She observes a father who gets so frustrated with the unfairness of her world that he seems to feel a kind of low-grade anger most of the time, and one who increasingly likes people less and less. I think she sees my fear. I'm pretty ...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - June 19, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Explaining the devil to angels
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: Schuyler's view of the world is a little fantastical and a little simple. It has room for monsters, but not like these. It has room for sadness and fear, but not like this. And her intellectual disability would make it easy to punt this a bit, to file down the sharp points and distract her until the world goes back to talking about the stupid election and who Taylor Swift is dating. But I refuse to do it. (Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog)
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - June 13, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Overbelief in Action
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: This was no pity prize. This wasn't macaroni art on the fridge, or the much maligned participation trophy that some find so hilarious. No, this recognized her individual achievement. It identified Schuyler as someone who did hard work and expanded her own personal boundaries and abilities. For that, I couldn't be more proud of her. This award recognizes something more, however. It illustrates the tangible results of teachers who see a student like Schuyler for the possibilities she represents, not just the challenges. It gives us a much-needed example of wha...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - May 15, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
With Thoughts of Other, Younger Days
Today, at Support for Special Needs: Excerpt: I'm not sure what to think of who I am now. I'd like to look back at that younger me and say, "Oh my god, what a dumbass. He knew nothing." But I miss him. I miss being him. He felt fear of the future, but the ticking clock didn't sound so loudly in his ear. He didn't have answers, but he had time, and there was no way he wasn't going to be a warrior from that point on. He'd written (or was in the process of writing) a book about being a confused father stumbling through some mysterious darkened places, but that was over. Schuyler's monster had been sighted and put on...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - May 9, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Safe Space
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: Hate speech and its environment protect a societal belief that only those who may contribute to society in a very narrow manner are worthy of citizenship and humanity, rather than just pity. We treat people according to the worth we grant them, and the hate speech that is so prevalent in our society affords them very little value. Simple words, thrown around casually and carelessly, like grenades, like poison seeds that will blossom where they fall. Hate speech directed at those with disabilities creates safe spaces, from which very dangerous gardens grow. (Source: Schu...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - May 2, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Rob Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
The Very, Very Worst
This is Schuyler.Schuyler is sixteen years old. She plays percussion in her high school band. Schuyler participates in Miracle League soccer and volunteers with Miracle League kids who play baseball, helping out with their practices and their games while wearing a Wonder Woman cap. She takes an art class and writes stories about dragons and monster armies and evil queens. She's a huge Star Wars fan and loves Rey the most, although she's got a soft spot in her heart for Sabine and Ahsoka, too. She vacillates between carefree atheism and curious agnosticism. Schuyler's ambition in life is to help others, particularly people ...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - April 28, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Rob Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Community Standards
This morning at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: Some of the different hats I wear in my life don't always compliment each other very well. Even though I hate the R Word with the zealotry of a late convert, I'm also a writer, and I don't take the cudgel against language without real hesitation. But as a writer, I have to accept that words have actual power, and when we use them, we have responsibility for the outcome. The concept of hate speech results from the acknowledgement that powerful things sometimes need to be checked. I'd prefer that in this particular case, the checks would be self-applied, and that simply...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - April 24, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Rob Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
Mission Control
Today at Support for Special Needs:Excerpt: There's something special needs parents might not tell you, although if you love us, you probably already know. We're exhausted, physically and emotionally, by the hard days, by the times when things fall apart and when our kids reach for the stars and fall to earth with a crash. But the good days, the ones where the successes outnumber the failures and there are more smiles than tears? Those days are exhausting as well. Even the successful days take a toll on us and require us to dig deeper wells than we might always be able to sustain. (Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog)
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - April 17, 2016 Category: Disability Authors: Rob Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs
