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The Class Photo that Broke a Mother’s Heart
yahoo.com ^ | June 17, 2013

Posted on 06/17/2013 5:42:11 PM PDT by grundle

What is wrong with this picture?

It's one of those things that you don't get, until you get it. Unless you are eternally empathetic, you look at this photo and don't see much wrong at all.

To Anne Belanger, mother of Miles, the photo is unbearable to look at.

When the class portrait for her son's Grade 2 class came home, she opened it excitedly, and immediately shoved it back in the envelope. She couldn't look at it. It broke her heart.

Anne's son, Miles, has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. At the age of 13 months, his parents were told that Miles would never walk, he has spent his life in a wheelchair.

Miles knows he's different than the rest of the kids, but he still tries to fit in. So there he is, on the far side of the image, neck craning as far as he can to stretch into the frame with the rest of his friends. He's beaming. It's school picture day and he's thrilled.

But the photo still broke Anne's heart. The photo was a clear example of how set apart her son is from society. Instead of a big group hug photo with Miles at the center, and classmates and teachers all around, a fully inclusive image, he was stuffed off to the side, some 3 feet away. An after thought, it seems.

(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: chat; classphoto; disabled; schoolphoto; specialneeds; wheelchair
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To: grundle

The child does have a great smile, though, doesn’t he?


121 posted on 06/17/2013 6:58:38 PM PDT by This I Wonder32460
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To: GeronL

I was quoting the mother she wrote, She wanted a group hug around her kid. Most boys at that age wouldn’t want that.


122 posted on 06/17/2013 6:59:37 PM PDT by ThomasThomas (A bad hair day is not a mental issue, or is it?)
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To: SuzyQueIN
Consideration is a virtue

It seems most of the reactions on this thread are directed at the Mother. Well and good.

But you have summed up the problem with this picture. It is a Class Photo. The teacher could have stood behind the student, and the other students could have moved closer to the edge.

Out of CONSIDERATION.

But I guess there are plenty of so- called conservatives who equate consideration with special treatment or emotionalism. Too bad.

123 posted on 06/17/2013 7:02:27 PM PDT by KittenClaws ( You may have to fight a battle more than once in order to win it." - Margaret Thatcher)
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To: grundle

Sorry, but I don’t see a problem here. The kid is smiling, the picture was taken, and he’s in it.

Sorry to be harsh, but some of you folks sound like Liberals looking for sh*t to be offended by.

Why don’t some of you folks take a lesson from the kid. Be happy and smile.


124 posted on 06/17/2013 7:04:37 PM PDT by Artcore
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To: grundle

Teacher could have stood behind the boy.


125 posted on 06/17/2013 7:04:40 PM PDT by Scarlet7
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To: grundle

Who-da thunk it...122 replies and no “I’d Hit it!” for the teacher.


126 posted on 06/17/2013 7:06:34 PM PDT by TomServo
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Comment #127 Removed by Moderator

To: ToxicMich

Right?


128 posted on 06/17/2013 7:09:18 PM PDT by Ghost of SVR4
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To: verga

Are you implying that, in order to pander to a silly sense of self perceived enlightenment, we should make disabled children perfectly centered in every photo?

How utterly ridiculous.


129 posted on 06/17/2013 7:09:18 PM PDT by PlanToDisappear
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To: grundle

He’s the only one that’s smiling in the picture. All the other kids have like a blank expression on their faces.


130 posted on 06/17/2013 7:10:43 PM PDT by MNDude (Sorry for typos. Probably written on a smartphone, and I have big clumsy fingers.)
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To: LibsRJerks

Here’s wishing your special needs son a happy life with much success. Thanks for sharing his story.


131 posted on 06/17/2013 7:10:54 PM PDT by Ciexyz
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To: kabumpo

We get your point(s).


132 posted on 06/17/2013 7:11:33 PM PDT by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs stay silent.)
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To: lastchance

What happens when he needs to go to the bathroom? Does someone help him out of his wheelchair then, or does he have a built in potty?


133 posted on 06/17/2013 7:12:05 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: verga

Totally agree. The photographer is a pr8ck


134 posted on 06/17/2013 7:16:29 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Ditter

I had a student once who was in a similar situation. There was a teacher’s assistant who was detailed to assist with a potty break scheduled at the same time every day towards the end of my class.


135 posted on 06/17/2013 7:20:37 PM PDT by GenXteacher (You have chosen dishonor to avoid war; you shall have war also.)
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To: AppyPappy

>> Momma drama.

And that’s okay given the challenges.

The important thing to notice here is that the wheelchair is not empty.


136 posted on 06/17/2013 7:20:38 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: grundle

All they had to do was move the teacher to the other side and it would have been fine and balanced. If it offends her so much, she should just photoshop it that way.


137 posted on 06/17/2013 7:21:49 PM PDT by secret garden (Why procrastinate when you can perendinate?)
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To: verga
Should the kid have been closer to the others? Yes. Was the woman demanding her child be the center of attention? Also yes.

Each of these kids are worth their weight in gold to their parents. Just because one is in a wheelchair does not make him objectively worth more than the others.

138 posted on 06/17/2013 7:22:42 PM PDT by GOP_Party_Animal
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To: cuban leaf

He looked excluded in the photo. Or, he could have been in next to one or two others. Point is, have him close to others.


139 posted on 06/17/2013 7:25:38 PM PDT by Bronzy
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To: grundle
Someone fixed it...Photoshop.
140 posted on 06/17/2013 7:28:18 PM PDT by BlueStar
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