Fear Thou The Mutant

[filkertom]

Jayzus Jayzus JAYZUS:

A children's show host who was born with one hand is facing criticism from parents over her disability.

BBC spokeswoman Katya Mira said the corporation has received at least 25 "official" complaints recently about Cerrie Burnell, new host of two shows on the BBC-run CBeebies television network, which is aimed at children younger than 6.

The official complaints do not count the dozens of negative comments lodged in Internet chat rooms, Mira said.

In one chat room, a father lamented that Burnell being on the show forced him to have conversations with his child about disabilities. [Emphasis mine]

I know what I want to say, especially to that guy. I suspect you all will do so more eloquently, and with far less angry profanity, than I would.

(h/t AmericaBlog)

Comments

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I'd settle for a simple, "Shame on you!"

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

A father was forced to teach his child about something? Umm... that's your job, guy.

[boy-pastiche.livejournal.com]

^this

[sydb42.livejournal.com]

Cerrie Burnell said basically what I was going to say:

'It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children. It just goes to show how important it is to have positive, disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general," Burnell said.

I am always surprised when parents say things like what the father said about being "forced" into having a conversation with his child. Having those conversations is part of the job of being a parent.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

Having those conversations is part of the job of being a parent.

Sadly, it seems like a LOT of people who are reproducing these days do not want to do the parenting part of the job - they just want to do the parts from conception through birthing. After that, they start to lean heavily on this hypothetical "Village" that it takes to raise a child.

It's funny how the parents that use that "it takes a village" argument never seem to want to be a part of the village they want raising their kid... except to ban the village members who are "different" from participating in the raising of the child.

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

"I know what I want to say, especially to that guy. I suspect you all will do so more eloquently, and with far less angry profanity, than I would."

Well, maybe more eloquently. I'm not sure about the other.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

It's strange for me to see a story like this. Maybe it's because I grew up with Susan, the deaf woman on Sesame Street, or because Mr. Rogers talked about people with disabilities; but I can't understand the big deal.

The woman has a disability. So?

In talking to the father lamenting having to talk to his children I'd ever so gently remind him that if he didn't want all of the responsibilities that came along with being a father then he should have kept it in his pants.

That's just me though.

[kshandra]

<minornitpick>Her name was Linda. Susan was one of the other adults.</minornitpick>

[mimiheart.livejournal.com]

My husband's blind. And there's a kid at my daughter's school in a wheelchair. (It's her best friend's brother even.) OH CRAP! How dare there be these different people in my world forcing me to have discussions with my kids.

Actually, I don't think I HAVE had discussions on disabilities with my kids. I think it's because it's just a part of daily life.

A fourth grader died suddenly at my son's school this week. THAT has caused far more discussions than anything like this would.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

A fourth grader died suddenly at my son's school this week.

Yikes! What happened?

Assuming you're at liberty to discuss such things, of course...

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I've been following this story. It so saddens me. Cause YOU are uncomfortable with this woman's appearance, your CHILDREN must be too?

Kids are completely accepting of just about anything if you simply explain it to them

"Daddy, why does that lady have one arm?"
"Well, she was born that way"
"How does that happen?"
"Well, remember when we made gingerbread men? And a couple didn't get enought dough and their legs were funny? Did they taste just as good? Its sort of like that."
"Oh, okay. Can I go play..?"

[rook543.livejournal.com]

Thanks a hell of a lot! Now I'll never be able to eat gingerbread again...

I'll feel like an extra fron 'Night Of The Living Dead'! (You know the shot I'm talking about.)

[the_rck]

::snarls:: I can't manage eloquence at the moment. I'm not sure I'll be able to manage it after my cup of coffee either.

I've been trying to find good ways to talk to my daughter about disability for years now. It's not easy, and there's very little out there to help, especially for invisible disabilities. It's important however, and having the conversation early is pretty damned important. From my own childhood, I know that it's one of the areas where having more information is less scary than having none.

[kayshapero]

Like a certain other touchy subject, the best bet is not to have The Talk (da dum!), just a whole lot of little ones.

How can I count the ways?

[capplor.livejournal.com]

There's my mother, of course, though hearing loss is considered "invisible". The kids don't know that I have a speech impediment (any more, passable as a regional accent). They DO know that lots of people have dogs that help them in public places and I've made sure they know to ask permission before socializing with the doggy, and politely accept when the answer is "No, he's working." And they know it's their job as the more maneuverable to let wheeling people through.

What scares me is that this guy may believe that disability is a punishment for unspecified "sins." I wouldn't want him teaching his child that, either.

Re: How can I count the ways?

[ladyotterfae.livejournal.com]

*gets distracted from her righteous anger into a startled giggle* sorry, but the "more maneuverable" thing just struck me as funny. I know what you're teaching them, and it's valuable and generally true, but I also know that my boyfriend's wheelchair is a hell of a lot more maneuverable than my tubby behind, in both speed and grace. :)

My 4 year old could help this clueless father.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

I work with folks who have cognitive and physical disabilities.
My son (4 today!!!!) is used to being around these folks.
Maybe his words will help you explain disabilities to your kid:
"Well, Granna (his grandmother) they're, like, everybody people...but there's stuff everybody people can do that they can't or they do it some other way. And they look how they look and do stuff like what they do stuff. And that's all ok 'cause they're nice to me and I'm nice to them and we're friends."
Really, though. I don't understand some parents' reasoning. There were parents at my kid's Montessori school (where you'd think people would be a bit more reasonable) who did not want their kid to watch the inauguration, because "we're trying to teach her to be color-blind."
GO figure.

Re: My 4 year old could help this clueless father.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Okay, you just hit one of my hobbyhorses (or rather, your child's classmate's parents did). "Color-blind" DOES NOT MEAN that you don't notice what race or ethnicity someone is; that's an unrealistic goal. What "color-blind" means is that you don't see someone's race or ethnicity as a cause for CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIOR toward them, which is an entirely different thing.

Personally, I prefer the IDIC ideal. This allows me, for example, to remember that a lot of people from India are Hindu, and that if I'm going out to eat with an Indian person I don't know well, I should check and see if they're vegetarian before suggesting a restaurant. That's not racism (though I've had people claim it was), it's courtesy.

[rook543.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one to see what is obvious? We all know KNOW kids mimic what they see on TV, and a host with one arm, making this disability seem "fun" will OBVIOUSLY inspire kids to lop off their arms! And even if they dont, why it is SICK to make kids realize that some people are different. Why, they could grow up with absurd notions that a woman with one arm is somehow JUST as capable in life as anybody else. How will they learn a healthy fear of, and shame for those who have not the common sense to have it for themselves?

Next thing thing you know there will be quadripaligics who can't even talk on their own teaching thing like quantum mechanics at universities like Caimbridge. Like THAT could ever happen...

[boy-pastiche.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

[dragon-avatar.livejournal.com]

all I can ask is...
Whiskey Tango foxtrot, if its not parents whining about the education system not "teaching" enough, its that the example above some parents don't even want to teach their kids...
do some parents think that schools are just an older example of daycare? hell with it, just sit the little ones infront of the T.V all day, and hope they learn something from 90210!!!

[mtgat]

$deity forbid that kids with disabilities, visible or not, have someone on a preschool show to look up to. Half the kids I know have disabilities (when you've got a kid in Special Ed, all your friends know what an IEP is). It's good for them to see grownups with disabilties doing the same things as other grownups, just like it's important for them to see other kids with disabilities in the media. It keeps them from feeling invisible. It tells them they're people like other people. And it tells all the other kids the same thing.

*waits for the cries of how we're all being ablist because we're acknowledging people with disabilities exist which means we're seeing them which means we're not ability-blind, or something*

[boy-pastiche.livejournal.com]

*pretends to respond the way you think*

No seriously, I utterly agree with you. Where's the wheelchair barbie anymore! I need to get one for my little girl.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Words, no.. a few minutes alone with some people, a large hammer and some railroad spikes, yes... then we'll see how they feel about disabilities after a few months.

[boy-pastiche.livejournal.com]

don't be silly, a callow guy like that would probably off himself.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

I confess I'm reminded of the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore sketch "One Leg Too Few"..........

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Unidexter for Tarzan!

I'm both a parent and disabled...

[endrick.livejournal.com]

and I have absolutely NO sympathy for for the parent who lamented that he had to have the disability talk...
Nada... Zero... Zilch...

as of 1990 51 million Americans were considered disabled... about 20%... 1 in 5
32.5 million Americans were severely disabled... about 12%... 1 in 10

I'd bet those percentages are about the same in the UK...

I work... I drive... I grocery shop... I have a life... and I have been in a wheelchair all My life...

I'm not hiding in the house just cause the half-wits of the world get uncomfortable cause they
have to have a serious talk about disability with their child...

Guess what... pull on the big boy undies and suck it up...
parenting isn't all trips to the zoo, ice cream cones and rainbows...

Re: I'm both a parent and disabled...

[boy-pastiche.livejournal.com]

THIS. I'm not in a chair but I have had to use chairs/scooters while shopping, and $deity are people ignorant!

[madrona.livejournal.com]

*cries*
Present day people aren't supposed to remind me this strongly of minor characters in Kage Baker novels.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

OK, not to hijack the thread, but which book? I think I have most of her ouevre and I can't seem to figure which you are talking about.

[kestrels-nest.livejournal.com]

We're all preaching to the choir here. What I want to know is who's responding in this outraged fashion where the show's producers will see it.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

MEMEE! I did!
I wrote them, complimented their choice of a talented host (she really is quite a good kiddie show host) and challenged them to increase the number of folks on their shows who have various disabilities WITHOUT emphasizing the disabilities.

[enjis.livejournal.com]

When my friend Cindy (who walks with a cane due to a brain injury) was in England recently, she was constantly being run down by faster-walking folk. When she demanded an apology from one rude person, the woman turned around and said "You have a cane? Why are you even out in public??"
She said she got that kind of attitude from all over the country...like disabled people should be hidden away.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

And here I thought England was a civilised country.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

This has been in the news for about a week. Fortunately most of the respondants on the BBC comment line have been in support of this woman, and to slap down the idiots who want to bubble-wrap the world.

Love that logic "Ew, I have to explain icky stuff to mah keed!" The rationale for impeaching Clinton, wasn't it? (I wonder just how many of those dun-wanna-explain-blowjobs-to-mah-keed people had no problem explaining torture, war or economic disaster to their kids.)

[eleri.livejournal.com]

You would not believe some of the carp you hear when you are around someone disabled. I've been informed by someone that Mousie should never be allowed to vote on anything involving welfare or disability funding, because she'll never be unbiased. (of course this is the same person who stated that all of the stimulus funding is unconstitutional, so grain of salt, there.)

I've also seen it put forward that 'retards' are 'not human' because of their genetic glitches, and therefor don't deserve care, because they can never contribute to humanity. And no, that wasn't some comic book plot set in a world where mutants have frightening powers, that was last week in a blog response.

[lariss.livejournal.com]

*bristles* Where. Precisely. Is. This. Blog. Response?

[jenrose]

My daughter is a mutant. (She is missing a chunk of one of her chromosomes). I damn well hope that she has that much success and fuck anyone who has a hard time with that.

[connor-campbell.livejournal.com]

what really got my goat was while i was a career/hiring fair on my campus last week. there was a company there who works at translating phone calls for people who have to use sign language - the hearing impaired person has a camera and screen set up that is tied to a translator, then the translator can speak verbally on the phone with a hearing friend, rather than having to deal with TTYL phones. (did i get that abbreviation correct?) i mentioned i had done some work with special needs students, and made the distinction between mental impaired and hearing impaired (as well as physically, emotionally, visually, etc.) she stopped and said "it sure is nice to hear someone who realizes there is a difference!" that got me - that someone could actually think that a disability of some manner like hearing or vision must automatically mean a mental impairment as well! is there no end to the obtuse, close-minded, head-up-their-*orifice of choice*, pig-headed, bigoted, imbeciles? i mean really, whiskey tango foxtrot? yeah, definitely preaching to the choir here!

[gelfling-flys.livejournal.com]

People seem to believe that one difficulty means everything else is broken also. I have a friend who works with sign language everyday. She talks of similar problems dealing with the public.

There is resistance to dealing with anything that is different. I understand that with small kids. I also disagree with that approach. I have had to explain some awkward things to my three year old. He accepts new knowledge and is happier for straight answers.

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I have to admit a nasty bias here.

When I was born and growing up there was almost always one common theme that anybody said about me to my mother.

"He'll never be good for anything but washing floors."

I've well overcome their words and proved to myself that I have some amazing gifts but I've also grown up with a chip on my shoulder concerning disabilities.

People like this disgust me. They fear anything that is different and teach their children the same in a lot of cases.

I'm very lucky that my parents and friends instilled a good sense of ethics in me or I'd be hunting this guy down to make sure he was permanently disabled on at least one extremity. Grrr....

[fair-witness.livejournal.com]

Passing along this post, which may interest anyone else who wants to show their support for Cerrie:

http://clairlewis.livejournal.com/1716.html