I've been offline for the past few days. I haven't been doing anything interesting... The cat and I took up Synchronised Sneezing, I've read a few essays about Buffy, but mostly I've just been sitting on the sofa watching CSI (hey, I'm doing a Masters in Cult Film & TV... watching CSI is therefore technically studying).
Not having been staring into my computer screen means I've not been keeping up with the news... I rarely watch it on TV or listen to it on the radio, I get all my news from online sources.
So, I was both shcoked and pleased to switch on my computer this morning to find that I had an Email from Scope. Shocked because they're not my most favourite of charities so I was stunned to find myself on one of their mailing lists. But pleased because the Email was the first time I'd heard the news that Katie Thorpe has been spared uneccessary surgery. A quote from Katie's mother in that article that would be funny if it wasn't so disturbing:
"People who don't know Katie, who don't fully understand our situation have actually been swayed by the minority of the disability rights organisations."
Damn those pesky disabled people fighting for the right to not be needlessly mutilated.
In recent months I've started to notice something quite chilling going on. All minority groups have their hate-filled opressors, and disabled people have more than most. But, recently, the people shouting the loudest about why disabled people shouldn't be allowed human rights are the parents of disabled children!
I read an article, or perhaps it was a 'letters to the editor' type thing by a parent, or parents of autistic children. They were basically claiming that the National Autistic Society is bad and wrong and fails to support "real" autistic people. Why? Because they employ autistic people. According to the article people with autism know nothing about it. They claimed that the only people that truly understand autism are the parents, and people with autism have no right to claim that they do know anything about it. I can't remember where I read this, but, if it rings a bell and you know where I can find this story, please comment.
That a parent can claim that their children shouldn't have the right to speak out for themselves, or that their children shouldn't have the right to avoid unneccesary surgery simply beggars belief.
Fortunately, for once, the disabled people are coming out on top.
2007 started with Ashley X hitting the news. This spurned several wanna-copycat cases, like Katie.
Hopefully 2008 beginning with the news that Katie is safe will bring a better year for young disabled girls everywhere.
