"Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do," Says Disabled Valedictorian in Louisiana

The Alexandria, LA, Daily Town Talk ^ | 05-23-03 | Crooks, Sarah

[Theodore R.]

He made a 32 on the ACT.

He has a 4.0 grade-point average.

He'll be honored tonight as one of Tioga High School's valedictorians of the class of 2003.

But Damein Delrie started his academic career in special-education classes.

"Back then, if you had a disability, they automatically put you in special ed," said Damein, 17. "It was the only way they had to meet your needs."

[Hank Kerchief]

The problem at the root here is 'radical egalitarianism' which is slowly strangling us to death. Some people are simply better at some pursuits than others.

I am in complete sympathy with that view. Everybody is different.

I had a different take on the story, however. Everybody is different, and, in one sense, everyone has a handicap, its just that most handicaps (another way of saying we are different) are not visible, or not considered handicaps.

Everytime I see somebody hop out of a car they've just parked in a handicapped spot, I say as loudly as I can to my wife, "Honey, anybody who parks in a handicapped spot has something wrong with them."

Show me anybody colleting a free income because of some handicap, and I'll show you somebody with the same handicap who's making it on his own. In this case, I thought the statement, "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do," meant, "hey, we all can't do something, why concentrate on that. I'll concentrate on what I can do.

Hank

[muskogee]

As long as the possibility remains don't ever give up. And ban the word "can't" from your vocabulary. I prefer "He WILL be a dad someday" (no maybe to it).

[redheadtoo]

If Damein's parents had been told before birth that he would be disabled the medical establishment would have recommended his mother have an abortion. They would have argued that it would be wrong to bring a child into the world who was disabled.

This story shows us why God allows people to be born with disablities. They are here to be an inspiration to the rest of us.

I worked with the developmentally disabled for seventeen years. Many times, when I visited their work sites, I was told by their co-workers that they could not maintain a negative attitude when they saw the joy of the disabled person at being allowed the chance to work and be independent.

[Mfkmmof4]

Excellent point!! My son continues to amaze me!

[stands2reason]

Everytime I see somebody hop out of a car they've just parked in a handicapped spot, I say as loudly as I can to my wife, "Honey, anybody who parks in a handicapped spot has something wrong with them."

I take it you would have fun disparaging my father who had emphysema. I don't think he "hopped" out of a car, but he wasn't "crippled" like you expect handicapped people to be.