"Avery W3AVE" wrote in message
...
On Jan 1, 10:38 pm, "Brian Hill" wrote:
"Tommy D" wrote in message
You know Tim, I have a child who is autistic and mentally retarded.
It would be nice if you would think of a better analogy to use instead
of picking on people who have no choice of their destiny in life.

I have a brother that is mentally handicapped and the best way to deal
with
people that offend them is to not let it offend you. Most people don't
mean
to offend and I don't think Tim was trying to be mean, although the
analogy
was tasteless. Our love for the handicapped people in our lives shouldn't
make us hyper sensitive trying to protect them and the real aholes that
say
stuff to be mean are lonely pathetic souls with bigger issues than any
handicapped person we'll ever know.

BH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Brian, your ability to bite your tongue speaks to your unusual self-
discipline, but I didn't read Tom's mild comment as anything more than
a polite reminder that there are other and better ways to make a
point. He didn't wail about how offended he was, or lash out at Tim or
call him names. My wife worked with retarded kids for many years--it
galls us when we hear kids call each other "retard" or say "that was
retarded." Our own son did it when he got to middle-school age. An
occasional calm heads-up like Tom's is fine in my book.

I agree 100% and I'm not trying to scold anyone. All I'm saying is, It can
really give you a workout dealing with peoples statements and behavior on
the subject. I can't count the trouble, arguments and scraps I got into as a
young man trying to protect my brother and one day he said " Brother don't
let it bother you soo much, it doesn't bother me. I've leaned to accept
myself and others who are differant and they haven't. We need to set the
example for them." My brother is border line autistic and he's like a kid
in some ways and a genius in other ways. I've learned a lot from him.

BH

BH