Knowledge Safari: WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

The other day while reading through various posts on Twitter, I came across something that bothered me.

I saw a post from a quasi celebrity, basically she is a layed off writer for a gossip column...without repeating word for word what she said here is the gist. In this post she was talking about bad drivers on a particular stretch of road she was on and used the term "special education" in a dispariging way as a means to describe their ineptitude.

Considering what we at www.KnowledeSafari.com stand for and as a human being it irritated me.

So my question becomes...what would you do? Would you have fired back a post to her? Would you send her a direct message to let her know of her transgression? Or, do you leave it alone?

What do you do as a parent, grandparent, aunt/uncle, sibling, teacher or friend of a child with special needs? Or, if you have special needs of your own, how do you handle a situation such as this?

Please discuss in the comments section! And, look for more "What Would You Do?" posts here at the Knowledge Safari Blog in the future.

6 comments:

Paul Mastin said...: What would I do?? Well, it all depends on my mood! Sometimes I just cringe and grumble inside. Other times I do address the situation in a calm, educating manner. And then other times, I address the situation like an emotional child throwing a little temper tantrum!! My Chloe has an aunt who STILL makes "short bus" comments. It is unbelievable! I am becoming more and more convinced that perhaps it part of our job as caregivers to help educate people. I believe that most of the time, the speaker means nothing hurtful or rude or insensitive -- they are just clueless!!

Kelly
http://www.ourordinaryday.wordpress.com; November 4, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Knowledge Safari said...: Hi Kelly - Thanks for the honest response! I agree and think that the poster of the comment meant no harm - it was just insensitive of her to use those terms.; November 4, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Janis said...: I would probably call her on it...at the very least if she is "ignorant" then she needs to be informed. That is totally uncalled for to pick on innocent kids that way. Publicly. I hope someone stood up for them. I know so many times we look the other way and give the benefit of the doubt...but if this person is an adult in 2009 they really need to know that such behavior is NOT ok. Just my .02; November 4, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Knowledge Safari said...: Thanks for your comment Janis - she was called on it! Your $.02 are valuable.; November 4, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Andrea Junelle B said...: Hello! It's Andrea, from "Rowan's Developmental Journey" @ http://andreajunelleb.wordpress.com/ & my blogspot URL is www.swpahydroassociation.blogspot.com/

ANYWAY - I DEFINATELY would have AT LEAST sent her a direct message letting her know that some people ARE delayed & have children that are delayed (as u know I have a daughter with multiple disorders) So I probably would've told her that she WAS a fan of mine, but not anymore..etc.
Any chance you'll let us know WHO this person was?? LoL :); November 9, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Knowledge Safari said...: Thanks Andrea! She definately got an "ear" full! She apologized and said it was incorrect of her - so I will keep her anonymous!

Thanks for your comments! What Would You Do - returns on Wednesday!; November 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM