Sunday, February 20, 2011
Professional Behavior?
I have gone over what I want to write on this post so many times that I wonder if it is even worth the effort to explain how I feel. When we had visitors from a local hosptial last week, a joke about the mentally retarded really p....d me off. I did not even hear what the joke was, but the "punch line" was what made me mad. How do you stand in front of a classroom of OTA students and tell a joke that makes fun of the MR? Even though the guy said it was politically incorrect, it was wrong. Having a son that is mentally handicapped makes me more sensitive to the issue, and I understand that. I don't believe anyone would think a joke about cancer or TBI's would be funny, so why would anyone think this joke was amusing? By the way, I don't like the term mentally retarded, I would prefer the term mentally handicapped to be used. I'm off my soap box now. I need to go take some deep breaths!
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I also have become very sensitive to the "short bus" jokes!! It really is time for them to go away!!! A very good friend has a son with Down's--and she "wouldn't change a hair on his head"--How beautiful is that!! Her daughter was in the classroom (8th grade) when the math teacher asked if "you all rode in on the short bus today"--her lesson wasn't sinking in fast enough!!!! This 8th grader had to hear her teacher making that comment. We, as parents, have to pick our battles. We all know that this can be a fine line. I hope that this reminder makes its way to the person who said it in the OTA classroom, and hopefully, he will learn from his mistake. I would have placed a visit to my daughter's 8th grade teacher--and I would have included J., the 16 yr. old with Down's. Just as a reminder, mom "wouldn't change a hair on his head".
ReplyDeleteI think the important lesson from the incident during our lecture, is that even in a professional world we will still encounter some insensitivity towards those who are disabled physically or mentally. We are taught throughout our lives to be sensitive to these people and their situation, yet somehow we still manage to carry the playground jokes with us into adulthood. As OTAs we will have an added responsibility to show sensitivity to the disadvantaged and that includes setting an example to our fellow health care professionals. I was proud of the fact that the off color joke in the presentation brought total silence from our classroom.
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