Itâs not like you have to pass a test or anything to get a dog licence or tv licence. You can just walk in off the street and buy a dog licence and go home and kick the shit out of the dog if thatâs what you want to do and you wonât lose your licence.
Unfortunately words like âhandicapâ or âretardâ or âspasticâ are used in some peoples vocabulary. Youâd see it on here too and for me it makes me sad. My daughter is a child with Down Syndrome - thatâs why I do the cycling etc for fundraising. I hadnât a clue about what it was to deal with someone with an intellectual disability but you quickly learn. And to their credit the vast, vast majority of people are great. Fantastic in fact. You have to deal with the older generation who give you the âpoor auld cratureâ lines but they mean well. Having a intellectual disability in modern day Ireland isnât a patch on the discrimination and institutionalization that happened 30/40/50 years ago and when I see the progress a child with Down Syndrome can make with early intervention its amazing what these kids can do when given the chance.
But for those of us that call people names like âretardâ or âspazâ, well it just isnât good enough. Iâve highlighted it to a few lads on here by PM when they use such derogatory terms and pretty much to a man theyâve apologized and have shown great empathy to what people with intellectual disabilities and those effected by it have to deal with on a day to day basis. I donât want to come across like the Stazi or anything on this matter, just to say that using derogatory terms against those who have intellectual disabilities is wrong - as wrong as using derogatory against someones nationality, skin colour, sexual orientation etc etc etc.
Name calling like that is the lowest of the low and when it comes to the case of my daughter who is oblivious to what she lives with and canât speak up for herself well, those who use this language on a regular basis and who should know better should know that even though she doesnât have the voice to speak up against it, people like me do have that voice and I have to use it. To think that kids at the age what @TreatyStones witnessed yesterday are hearing from their parents is indeed saddening.
absolulty
do u have any friends with young kids also?
break up an afternoon by heading over to them, a trip to Tesco, the playground, Playzone if itsâ raining, ull be grand
we have no access to parents at all, hers are overseas, mine are old and decrepid and live far away so there are many times when ive just been with himself ( albeit only 1 kid) for the weekend⌠the only thing i do miss or could do with is having one of her sisters ( or maybe not) around with her kids as the cousins could play together⌠in reality im delighted to be far away from grandparents, the first year here was very hard especially as last summer was awful weatherwise but it was character building and we got on with it⌠id hate to have parents calling into the house
When my lads were born Mrs Bradey was studying and attended courses most evenings, Iâd get home from work to look after 2 kids under 24 months of age.
I moaned about it and found it hard but am so glad we had to do it that way.
If she had been a stay at home mother I know dam well Iâd plonk myself in front of the Tv and pay little attention to the lads.
I had no other choice but to mind and feed and get them bathed etc.
I see friends where the mother stayed at home and the dad plays with the kid for ten minutes after work and then hands the baby back to the mother.
So happy now that I couldnât do that, Iâd consider myself very very close to them.