Rosemary Kennedy was inspiration for Eunice

Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham says Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s accomplishments were inspired by the life of her older sister. Rosemary Kennedy was born with mild developmental disabilities, and was sent to an institution when a lobotomy in 1941 left her incapacitated.

The family kept silent about Rosemary for the next two decades, until Eunice wrote an article about her in the Saturday Evening Post in 1962. The piece argued that people with intellectual disabilities have value and deserve respect, and that they should be integrated into society and be given opportunities for work and education.

… Eunice was never comfortable accepting credit for her achievements, which rival those of her brothers. Even at a tribute to her in 2007, the woman who many allowed might have been president if only she’d been born a man tried to pass the praise along — to Rosemary.

“I am lucky that I experienced the sting of rejection as a woman who was told that the real power was not for me,” she said at the JFK Library and Museum. “I am lucky that I saw . . . Rosemary treated with the most unbearable rejection.

“It’s really that simple,” said Rosemary’s sister. “Love gave me confidence and adversity gave me purpose.”

Earlier posts here.

Frank Buckley, chief executive of Down Syndrome Education, writes in the [UK] Guardian that the UK’s National Health Service should take lives of unborn babies with disabilities into consideration as it rushes to develop prenatal tests.

Denis Campbell reports the development of a non-invasive method for the genetic testing of unborn children, claiming the technology will save lives (Blood test for mothers could save lives of hundreds of unborn babies, researchers say, 10 August). He does not explain why the lives of unborn babies with disabilities are not considered.

… Our National Health Service already encourages prenatal genetic selection against babies with identified health concerns and learning difficulties. The time has come for a full and public debate about where we cross the line between healthcare and eugenics.

Journalist Michael Barone, writing on the website of the American Enterprise Institute, offers praise for Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her husband, founding Peace Corps director R. Sargent Shriver. An excerpt:

They took the advantages they had in life, and their disappointments as well, and created two great institutions which will live on and serve people and enrich America for many, many years to come. The Peace Corps and Special Olympics share an important characteristic: they encourage and enable people to do things that they and those around them might have thought impossible. Peace Corps volunteers are empowered to spend two years living and working in a foreign country. Special Olympics participants are empowered to achieve measurable goals. Both teach the lesson that we can exceed limits that seem imposed on us.

All of us should shed a tear for Eunice Shriver, and for Sargent Shriver too, a tear of happiness and gratitude for what they have given their country and the world.

Earlier posts here.

Writing in the Washington Post, Colman McCarthy says he met Eunice Shriver at a pickup basketball game in her backyard more than 30 years ago. An excerpt:

She truly believed, and she instilled in those [Special Olympics] events, the idea that it’s not what you achieve in life, it’s what you overcome. A morally driven and politically astute woman, she sprung open doors globally for the mentally disabled and opened minds that had too long been closed to accepting people with Down syndrome and other disabilities.

… Eunice Shriver had no taste for fame-seeking. She had no publicist, no agent, no handler. All she had was energy, of a steeled kind that never stalled out. It was Olympian energy, special in its grace.

Earlier posts here.

‘Why do we like to think everyone with autism is especially gifted?’

From the BBC News Magazine:

The new film “Adam” focuses on the day-to-day life of a young man with Asperger’s syndrome. Traditionally, Hollywood movies have shown autistic characters as having savant-like qualities — a view that experts say is unrealistic, and creates barriers for real-life people and families who live with the diagnosis.

So why are autistic savants so over-represented in films? Because movies are geared toward giving the public what it wants. “”It’s a very sexy way of looking at autism,” says Jonathan Kaufman, president of Disability Works.

“It doesn’t seem to be as bad to be severely autistic if you’re also skilled at maths or music,” says Dr Stuart Murray professor of contemporary literature and film at the University of Leeds and author of the book Representing Autism. “If it seems to be that with your disability comes an extraordinary ability, it takes away the worst aspects of being disabled.”

“Everybody who is not disabled is fundamentally very scared by the possibility of becoming disabled,” says Dr Murray.

From BBC News:

Scotland’s legal sector will be teaming up with disability organizations to allow people with disabilities to voice their concerns to police officers, solicitors and policy makers.

The partnership, coordinated by Capability Scotland, comes after a recent survey found that 38 percent of people with disabilities had been a victim of crime and 40 percent felt excluded from the justice system.

Richard Hamer, director of external affairs at Capability Scotland, said: “This collaborative approach is an excellent opportunity to bring together all those with an interest in ensuring that the justice system is accessible to all.

“We hope this will be the beginning of a longstanding relationship which will draw on disabled people’s skill and experience to improve the Scottish justice sector for all.”

Earlier post here.

From the New York Times:

Children with disabilities are disproportionately paddled, spanked, or physically punished in American public schools, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The report found that more than 200,000 children were subjected to physical punishment in the nation’s schools during the 2006-2007 school year, and that more than 40,000 of them were students with disabilities. Students with disabilities made up 18.8 percent of students who were physically punished during that year, although they constituted just 13.7 percent of the total nationwide student population.

Most states prohibit corporal punishment in public schools, but 20 do not. The study’s authors urged federal and state lawmakers to extend the ban nationwide and enact an immediate moratorium on physical punishment of students with disabilities.

“Corporal punishment is just not an effective method of punishment, especially for disabled children, who may not even understand why they’re being hit,” said Alice Farmer, who wrote the report.

Earlier post here.