…who boarded a school bus the other week and ranted at kids who were bullying his daughter?  I had heard about the story, caught it ever-so-slightly while the news was on, but didn’t pay attention to it too much.  My initial reaction was “Probably not the best reaction, but not criminal either.”

On The Today Show this morning, they had the father, daughter and mother on the show for an exclusive interview.  As Matt Lauer went over the background of the story, he added a fact I didn’t know about the daughter – she has cerebral palsy.

It was amazing how quickly I went from slight interest in the story to Mama Bear mode.  Suddenly, I had more insight to why this father reacted the way he did.  I could imagine Josh doing the same thing if anyone ever treated Maura that way.  Was it a good judgment call on the dad’s part?  Probably not.  However, in light of the situation, the conditions on the bus, a father’s instinct to protect his child – I cannot blame him for what he did, and the idea that he could face jail time over the incident is nauseating to me.

We are extremely lucky.  Maura is known by everyone in town – I joke she’s famous here.  It’s a small town where you know everyone, everyone knows you.  Your kids play soccer with their kids.  Their kids are in dance class with your kids.  You run into people at church, the grocery store, the farmer’s market, walking to school.  You look out for other people’s kids when you see them doing something stupid (like the time my friend called to let me know the boys were riding their bikes in the street – I thanked her and promised to rat her son out too someday.)

Maura rides the bus.  She LOVES the bus.  I know her bus driver, and trust the bus driver to watch out for Maura, which she does.  She has assured me that everyone on the bus is nice to Maura.  The kids at school are all very accepting of Maura.  In many ways, the kids around Maura are so used to her, they just write things off as “Oh, that’s just Maura, she does that.”

But, there have been moments, when we’ve left our protective bubble, where I find kids staring at her with that “I’m smelling something bad” scrunched up face look.  There was one day a few weeks ago where I was having a rough day with Maura, who was frustrated and screaming and just a plain old handful…and some little girl was causing herself eye strain from staring at Maura so hard.  Maura gets a lot of stares, and I can tell the difference between the innocently curious stare and the “OMG!  What is wrong with her?” stare that gets under my skin.  The little staring girl was doing the latter.  After what seemed like forever, I finally said politely “Could you please stop staring at my daughter?”

I can’t imagine how I’d react if Maura was being outright bullied like this other girl had been.  If they were spitting at my daughter, smacking her in the head, twisting her ears and more – well, I can’t say I wouldn’t storm on the bus and give those kids a piece of my mind like that father did.  When I saw the interview, I saw this really nice family with this quiet little girl who was trying to be brave but was brought to tears, a father who was heartsick over how his baby girl was treated, and a situation that I could completely understand.  No, that father does not deserve jail time.  But maybe the parents of the kids on the bus should give their children a lesson in tolerance and acceptance.

To read about the story or watch the interview, click here…

From the NYT -

An experimental drug succeeded in a small clinical trial in bringing about what the researchers called substantial improvements in the behaviors associated with retardation and autism in people with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of these mental disabilities.

full story here…

I’ve heard in the news lately about how people are pushing for insurance companies to cover autism therapies, including speech and occupational therapies.  I’ve also heard from another parent how they’re trying to get autism therapies mandatory in schools.

This is all well and good…if your child has autism. 

But, if your child doesn’t have autism, well, you’re out of luck.  Even if they need speech therapy, could benefit from what are commonly considered autism therapies – unless you have a diagnosis of autism, you’re not getting it covered.  It will only be covered for children with an autism diagnosis.  I know this first hand because our insurance would cover ABA therapy – a common autism therapy – but one of the criteria is a diagnosis of autism.  Which means if Maura could benefit from it…well…tough luck.  She’s not autistic. 

Okay, maybe it wouldn’t be as blunt as that, but you get the point.

My thought is – why are these groups pushing for just autism coverage?  Why not have it cover any child with delays who could benefit from these therapies?  Why should a child like mine be denied because doctors can give us a diagnosis?  It isn’t our fault they don’t know what’s wrong with her.  She has developmental delays.  She needs these therapies just as much as the other child with a diagnosis.  She benefits from them just as much.  Yet she is apparently not worthy enough to include in this major push for coverage.

Let me make this clear – I’m not saying deny children with autism coverage.  Not at all!  They are deserving of this coverage.  What I am saying is that it should be a push to cover these things for ANY child in need, not just the one with the right qualifying diagnosis. 

/rant.

*this example was based on the applied verbal behavior therapy we are currently doing with Maura.  It is usually for children with autism.  It is costing us $4000 a month.  It is benefiting Maura tremendously.  However, we were not out of luck because they bill it as speech therapy and our fabulous insurance covers speech therapy.  If they billed it as an autism therapy, we’d be out of luck on coverage.  If we had our old insurance, we’d also be out of luck on coverage.  And yes, I am extremely grateful for our insurance.  Thanks Bill Gates!

Okay, so unless you’re trapped under a rock or have no media access, you’ve heard how Obama made a crack about his bowling skills, comparing his score to something you’d find in the Special Olympics.

As a parent of a special needs child, I looked into it.  Watched the clip on You Tube.  I don’t think he meant to offend.  I think he was trying to poke fun at himself.  The problem here is, he did it badly, and at the expense of people who can’t always defend themselves.

I know, people make jokes about this sort of thing all the time.  However, as president, Mr. Obama automatically puts himself at a higher standard.  It’s called “politically correct” for a reason.  Because politicians have to be correct in language use.  They are an example, whether they like it or not.  To quote Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics Chairman, “Words hurt and words matter.”  Words not only hurt the person being referred to, but those who love that person.

And the politically cynical part of me wants to know, would this be a bigger deal if George W. Bush had said it? 

To read the full statement from Timothy Shriver, click here…