Posts by rwagoner

30

Question for other Parents....

by rwagoner in

howdy all.... .

i have a 6 yo son who is in the first grade.

he was born 10 weeks preemie, was an only child up until about 6 months ago and spends a lot of time with adults - especially me...his goofy but loving dad.

rwagoner

Actually Mamacat....

As a result of being a preemie (10 weeks early - only 2 lbs, 14 oz at birth) he went from being a VERY verbal toddler to developing a stutter whe nhe entered pre-school. He had a year of speech therapy and when he started 1st grade this year it was nearly totally gone. There is still a pause now and then when he is tired but he is fluent.

During the brief period of stuttering he did get very frustrated. He knew what he wanted to say and how to say it but he just couldn't get his brain and mouth to interact. He would pound his hands on the floor or desk in frustration when he couldn't get things out. Even though he is now fluent I think he still may hold some of that frustration or embarassment of his past problems inside and that may hold him back when he meets new kids or when kids think he is wierd.

He is now very verbal again especially with adults but adults are more accepting and understanding than kids can be so he may have a greater comfort level with them. I'm not a psychologist or anything but these are my feelings and observations. We talk about everything, we're buddies and I do try to feel him out when I sense that he's feeling upset.

He's a great kid and I have every faith that he'll turn out okay, I just dont want the school to put labels on him that may effect him later and as I mentioned before, I dont want to trivialize a real potential problem if it exists.

Thanks for your help again everyone....the comments help as does having an uninvolved person to talk with about it.

30

Question for other Parents....

by rwagoner in

howdy all.... .

i have a 6 yo son who is in the first grade.

he was born 10 weeks preemie, was an only child up until about 6 months ago and spends a lot of time with adults - especially me...his goofy but loving dad.

rwagoner

Mamacat,

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try the role playing ! When my wife was expecting we were atthe hospital a lot waiting for appointments. He would play his gameboy or read and when he saw other kids doing the same he had no problem going over and talking to them. It seems to be the kids at school that he has the most problems with. During recess they want to play games or house or something and he just isn't interested so he plays by himself. The teachers see this and tell us that he is isolated and a loner....but with his friends or relatives his age he plays and converses fine. He is very verbal and social, sometimes overly so LOL.

As I said I just don't want to trivialize this if it really is an issue....and I'm sure I'm feeling a little guilty since I spend a great deal of time with him because of my flexible work schedule and he is turning out just like me....something that while not terrible...is still not something I planned on happening. So if he is wierd...it is most deffinitely my fault. LOL

30

Question for other Parents....

by rwagoner in

howdy all.... .

i have a 6 yo son who is in the first grade.

he was born 10 weeks preemie, was an only child up until about 6 months ago and spends a lot of time with adults - especially me...his goofy but loving dad.

rwagoner

Dave,

Thanks for the moral support. We try to get Alex involved too...he loves watching hockey but has NO interest in playing LOL...he's like to take karate lessons but now his mother is worried that it will add to the "impression" of his being aggresive....aaauugghhh. LOL

wild_thing,

Thanks to you too...nice to hear from a teacher's prospective. I have a meeting set to talk to the school testing folks...and I will listen. I can tell you that people thought I was a wierd kid and I'll admit that Alex can be just like me but he is certainly not violent.

30

Question for other Parents....

by rwagoner in

howdy all.... .

i have a 6 yo son who is in the first grade.

he was born 10 weeks preemie, was an only child up until about 6 months ago and spends a lot of time with adults - especially me...his goofy but loving dad.

rwagoner

Howdy all....

I have a 6 yo son who is in the first grade. He was born 10 weeks preemie, was an only child up until about 6 months ago and spends a lot of time with adults - especially me...his goofy but loving dad.

He gets along great with grown ups but has little interest in what other kids his age like. He has friends at school his age but many of the kids do think he is a little wierd. He likes star wars, lord of the rings, knights of old, ninja turtles....but also likes cars and trucks, tom & jerry and loves to read.

Being a preemie I think there may be a little ADD/ADHD leanings. If he is interested in something he can be glued to it but if he is not interested...forget it. He is a sweet, sensitive kid, very talkative and fairly bright without meaning to sound like a bragging parent.

The question/problem I have is this...we live in a very good but very PC - touchy feeling school district that tests kids every time you turn around for any number of issues. They are concerned that he has so little in common with the other kids (I was just like him at his age) and even labeled his behavior innappropriate because he would rather spend his time with adults. They admit that with adults he carries on intelligent, appropriate conversations but either finds the kids boring or they find him "strange".

This last week they sent a note home because he wore a ninja turtle shirt to school and they thought it showed "agressive tendencies" and alluded that since he is withdrawn from kids his age that this might be a problem later.

Am I nuts ? I see a good 6 year old kid who likes the ninja turtles. Walk into walmart or somewhere and the shirts all have super heros or tanks or dragons or something like that on them. We are very careful to screen his entertainment and toys...he doesn't play with guns or the like. He is about as violent or agressive as a dust mop. He does enjoy fantasy stuff...star wars, harry potter, ninja turtles but I thought it showed a good imagination....and he knows it is not "Real".

Am I being too laid back about this ? I dont want to overlook a potential problem but I just dont see it. I see a bunch of politically correct psycho babble that looks like it could label my good kid as a potential problem child later in school.

Help me out PLEASE....its making me crazy because I want my kid to act appropriately but think this is being blown WAY out of proportion....am I missing something because its MY kid ?

frustrated....

63

Our Future After Terri Schiavo/ What Hangs in the Balance.

by prophecor in

jw
friends

regardless for how one feels about the situation surrounding terri schiavo, this will be a landmark case in american history, politically, religiously, as well as within the medical profession.

to put this woman to death in the manner for which is being done, is inhumane and ungodly.

criminals on death row are afforded a more deserving death than she has been given.

rwagoner

dan,

The point of quoting the article was to show the same thinking could be attributed to the "professional" medical community here in the USA and not just the Nazis.

As far as 1942 not being "our time"....I have many family members and friends that were certainly alive in 1942. I also feel that given the trends still evident related to determining and terminating disable fetuses, mercy killing and other issues the devalueing of the lives of people with disabilities continues, however well meaning it may be. I an not the first person to make the connection with this article and the current stuggle of the disabled community. Since the thinking still exists perhaps we haven't seen quotes like this recently because the medical profession is now more "politically correct" and keep them to themselves.

I am simply expressing my opinions and those of many in the disabled community and quoting a totally inappropriate comment by a medical professional suggesting that 5 year old disabled children be killed because they were undesireable. You are certainly free to disagree or be offended, just as I am offended on a daily basis when people suggest that death is a better choice than having to live my life.

63

Our Future After Terri Schiavo/ What Hangs in the Balance.

by prophecor in

jw
friends

regardless for how one feels about the situation surrounding terri schiavo, this will be a landmark case in american history, politically, religiously, as well as within the medical profession.

to put this woman to death in the manner for which is being done, is inhumane and ungodly.

criminals on death row are afforded a more deserving death than she has been given.

rwagoner

purplesofa,

Thank you for your kind comments and I'm glad you found the article usefull.

63

Our Future After Terri Schiavo/ What Hangs in the Balance.

by prophecor in

jw
friends

regardless for how one feels about the situation surrounding terri schiavo, this will be a landmark case in american history, politically, religiously, as well as within the medical profession.

to put this woman to death in the manner for which is being done, is inhumane and ungodly.

criminals on death row are afforded a more deserving death than she has been given.

rwagoner

dan

Kennedy, F. (1942). The problem of social control of the congenital defective - Education, sterilization, euthanasia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 99, 13-16.

21

Prince...getting worse...sigh....

by DebraDoll in

jw
friends

he just gave "thanks & praise to the one true god jehovah..." at the vanguard awards.

i'm going to be sick now.

rwagoner

My wife's boss went to a recent Prince concert and Prince handed him a Watchtower!

LOL -- Think of his monthly field service record........how many do some of those stadiums hold ? LOL

20

Strange Burger King Commercial... What the.....?

by pseudoxristos in

jw
friends

this has nothing to do with witnesses, but it's driving me nuts.

the new burger king commercial has to be the strangest commercial i've ever seen.

i can't help but watch it every time just trying to figure it out.

rwagoner

Valis,

LOL you are too funny.....although I do have a thing for women with a nice caboose....oh and cheese burgers ! LOL

63

Our Future After Terri Schiavo/ What Hangs in the Balance.

by prophecor in

jw
friends

regardless for how one feels about the situation surrounding terri schiavo, this will be a landmark case in american history, politically, religiously, as well as within the medical profession.

to put this woman to death in the manner for which is being done, is inhumane and ungodly.

criminals on death row are afforded a more deserving death than she has been given.

rwagoner

Without trying to get started on another wild rant on this topic I offer the following thoughts below for those that may not have seen them before.

*** This is NOT a comment on the Schiavo case or comparing Terri to my or any other person with a disability's situation. It is a comment on what could, and has in the past happened related to the idea that it is merciful or loving to kill those who we feel may have a less than normal "quality" of life.

purplesofa made this observation:

I was talking with a friend of mine about the quality of life issue........and we got to the point we were saying.......Well, He's lost my legs...........lets do away with him. He is blind .....he surely does not want to live. How do we know she does not savor this quality of life for her. We all make comprimises.

Here is a link to an article (in pdf) I wrote:

Speaking for the "Unfit"
A Commentary on Disability, the Holocaust and the Modern Eugenics Movement.

For those who say that it could never happen here in the USA in our time....

The American Journal of Psychiatry Published a debate on the "Ethics of Killing Children with Severe Disabilities" in which one individual stated...(emphasis added by me)

"I believe when the defective child will have reached the age of five years - and on the application of his guardians - that the case should be considered under law by a competent medical board; then it should be reviewed twice more at four-month intervals; then, if the board, acting, I repeat, on the applications of the guardian of the child, and after three examinations of the defective who has reached the age of five or more, should decide that that defective has no future or hope of one; then I believe it is a merciful and kindly thing to relieve that defective - often tortured and convulsed, grotesque and absurd, useless and foolish and entirely undesireable - from the agony of living"

Relieve the defective who is entirely undesireable from the agony of living......it just makes me feel physically ill.

When I've posted these thoughts and comments here before I've been told to not worry about it, some people are ignorant, don't let it get to me, they don't know any better...but how would you feel if people continually said your life was worthless, abnormal, less than human, of little or no value or actually no life at all...better dead than disabled ?

I worry about the continued move toward normalizing mercy killing as a means of controlling quality of life. But then I'm biased aren't I ? I just don't want to find myself or my disabled culture being pushed toward extinction based on misguided beliefs and stereotypes by well meaning people who are uncomfortable dealing with the cripples because we're not normal enough for them.

just another bitter a**hole in a wheelchair