Trump’s decision to call his opponent Kamala Harris “mentally disabled” crossed a line far beyond his usual penchant for being proudly non-PC. We appreciate that many supporters consider his willingness to use insults outside “the norms” as a sign of strength or determination to get things done, but for the millions of people who actually grapple with mental issues, either personally or — particularly — through deeply loved children, this is egregious.
Most importantly, these are the words of defeat and dismissal. They were among the many ways “the rest of us” justified giving up on those with mental (or physical) limitations. We put them in institutions out of sight and thus literally out of mind. We gave up on them because we didn’t want to do the extra work — and spend the extra money, individually or nationally — to help them reach their own potential.
Trump and anyone who justifies his use of these phrases needs — really, really needs — to delve into the world of those with mental and physical (they often manifest together) roadblocks to success.
For starters, they will find that parents of students with special needs are often the staunchest advocates for educational success, selflessly putting endless hours into personal support and making the extra effort to lobby for anything that will help their sons or daughters.
They would find the astounding diversity and complexity of issues being so effortlessly dismissed. Special needs students may require little more than attention enough to realize they have a vision or hearing problem readily fixed. Some may have mild reading or comprehension issues mitigated, or even eliminated, with sufficient personal attention. Others may struggle with multiple diagnoses, both physical and mental. Some issues — particularly behavioral — may even be rooted in family or social settings.
But what Trump and those who justify this language should do most is the simplest of all: Come see students with special needs succeed.
Stop by when the Luzerne Intermediate Unit or other area institutions give out bicycles and tricycles specially adapted to the abilities of youngsters who, until that moment, never believed they would get a chance to enjoy this universal right of passage. The reactions can overwhelm the heart.
Find a school or agency that has opened a room or facility specifically designed for children with sensory issues, giving them a space to calm with some rocking motion, or regain a sense of security by wrapping themselves cocoon-like in special toys, or otherwise step away from the distractions that most of us find ignorable but they find debilitating.
Become a spectator at a Unified track meet, which lets those with special needs interact with regular education co-students, and see the joy beaming from their faces as they get to do what others do, with those very others.
Or perhaps, best of all, attend the Luzerne Intermediate Unit’s “Field Day,” an annual spring gathering of hundreds of students with special needs from around the world that allows them to enter the stadium with pride in an opening ceremony parade, then participate in a wide array of events, some a bit competitive, others not at all, and witness the endless array of smiles — on children and parents alike.
Political accusations and insults (on both sides) seem to keep getting cruder, and we keep accepting it. This was a bridge too far, and if any candidate uses such an accusation again, we should all cringe, rebuke and consider the speaker’s own state of mind.
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