special needs children need an advocate to protect them from their parents.

i was reading the 'newspaper' today as usual on my morning commute when i cam across this article. i am without a doubt all for being an advocate for special needs children. they really don't have a voice and i do truly believe they are a blessing in every sense of the word. a blessing is something that brings grace, courage, surrender, and love back into focus. it's something that moves you to work for something outside of yourself, something that reminds you that you are in fact a miracle, something that shows you that the world is made up of the love that passes between people, that kindness and compassion that binds us as humans.

that all being said, why is it (and i very well may be shoving myself off a cliff here) that whenever there is a story about a special needs child, if there are photos that accompany the story, 9 times out of 10 they are looking as daft and special needs as they could possibly be. no one can be that naive to think that a photograph like the one above wouldn't cause most people to take one look at it and add it to every stereotype and prejudice and preconception they have.

basically, i'm saying why do you have to pick a picture where he looks absolutely as much like a 'retard' as possible? why? just why?

and what's more i think the mother might be more 'special needs' than james. when have we ever heard sarah palin speak in depth about what it is that she will be advocating? her pronouncement stops at 'you'll have an advocate for special needs children in the white house'. what will you be advocating sarah...not to belabor the point...

alaskans reacted to her statement -

To those in Alaska who work with children with special needs, Ms. Palin’s pronouncement was surprising; the disabled have not been a centerpiece of Ms. Palin’s 20-months in office or any of her campaigns for office.

She signed legislation that would increase financing for children in Alaska with special needs — though she was not involved in its development — yet that state is the subject of two lawsuits that allege inadequate services and financing for those children, particularly those with autism.

“I never heard Governor Palin say as governor, ‘You have an advocate in Juneau,’” said Sonja Kerr, a lawyer specializing in disability law in Anchorage. said Sonja Kerr, a lawyer specializing in disability law in Anchorage.