MWF

my class is "social problems". you know, drugs, gangs, domestic violence, crime ......

my paper is to be my plan to solve a social problem (even though, by definition, that is not possible). i struggled to find a topic and then thought i would like to write about curbing the incidence of mental retardation. this, given the stats from my own agency that 50% of retardation is preventable - because of pre-natal drug and alcohol abuse.

but then i realized that my premis violates my own feeling about the retarded. and that is that they don't need to be 'fixed', because there is nothing wrong with them to begin with. granted, they are different, but so what?

so then i thought about the costs to this society, and all i can come up with is money. but that is HUGE. they are on SSI and Medicaid and we all pay for that. (social security and medicare/medicaid are 40% of the national budget)

please note that i'm not talking about the mentally ILL and those with borderline retardation. those are topics within themselves.

my last thought - i promise - is that a campaign to distribute information to would-be mothers should NOT include insinuations that retardation is always preventable or that it is something to be shunned.

you get a retarded child? you've got a wonderful child to love - and a person who will give you more joy that you can imagine.

i'm feeling derailed. what do you think?

monkeybone wrote:but then i realized that my premis violates my own feeling about the retarded. and that is that they don't need to be 'fixed', because there is nothing wrong with them to begin with.

If a child is born that way because the child is born that way, then I would totally agree. However, due to the fact your statement is talking about actual preventable, I disagree. Sure, the child is special, still, if you (pregnant mom) have the ability to change your life style and give your child a better chance, is that not something worth looking into? Women who smoke are not going to necessarily have mentally chanllenged children from it. However, they can end up with a child with medical conditions that the child could have otherwise been without. As parents, I feel it is our responsibility to do all we can in the most crucial times of a child's development.

So to me, there is no violation. You are not talking about going in, and checking the fetus for "issues" and tossing it should you find genetic anomalies in the DNA. That would be a violation if you felt that way. You are talking about giving a child its best head start in life after birth and beyond. There is nothing wrong with that.

(this topic was moved as it is more than "casual" talk)

I was pretty much thinking the same thing as Madd.

Though, what I was thinking is that no, you do not need to "fix" who they are now because 1) you can't, and 2) that is saying they are less than you or I in worth, and that would be wrong.
However, I think that you are focusing on who they are now when you should be focusing on who they could have been if certain things were prevented. Not just how much more they could have contributed to society, but how much more fulfilling their lives could have been for them.

As a woman, if I give birth to a handicapped child due to circumstances out of my control, then that is what was meant to be and I do my best to provide that child with the best life they can have, knowing there is nothing else I could have done. If I give birth to a handicapped child due to actions or inactions I took, then I have unnecessarily ruined a certain amount of potential that child had in life.

What are the rates of depression and suicide among the mentally retarded? Are they higher than the totals for the general population as a whole? If so, then there is even more lost potential because of a certain stigma and amount of shunning by the rest of society.

I have more thoughts, but I don't want to bore YOU...and I am very sleepy

thank you for replying, certainly!

i did not state my initial case/idea very well. i tend to have a feeling that really fleshing out an ideas would be to talk/write too much. that leads me to not fully explain my thoughts and expect others to just 'know', by insinuation, what i'm thinking.

(i'm not learning the quote intricacies tonight)
madd: Sure, the child is special, still, if you (pregnant mom) have the ability to change your life style and give your child a better chance, is that not something worth looking into?

yes, my thought for this project was prevention.

jen: However, I think that you are focusing on who they are now when you should be focusing on who they could have been if certain things were prevented. Not just how much more they could have contributed to society, but how much more fulfilling their lives could have been for them.

that was my intention - again, not well stated.

i could not find enough information to back up my claim that 50% of retardation is caused by alcohol and drug use........ well, 50% may be preventable, by the causes are legion.... birth problems, in-utero infections, pre-natal exposure to drugs, sensory deprivation, genetics, severe neglect/abuse, on and on and on.

this subject is too close to my heart to do deal with in a stupid sociology class paper. i will switch the subject of my paper, follow the guidelines and finally write.

i will continue to look for information about my charges. and continue to take care of them without regard for the reason they are in my care.

mind you. i am not done with this subject. and prevention is still my goal. but not today, and not for this class.