I watched a story on NBC News last night and cried. Actually, I was sobbing. I had been avoiding the news story for days, since it broke and hit the airwaves last week. I knew that finding out more would cause me great distress, but I couldn’t ignore the story any more. I was drawn to it like a moth to a porch light.
The story I am talking about has to do with the abuse of people with disabilities in Serbia. Anne Curry from NBC News visited Serbia and saw first hand the horrors experienced by the children and adults confined to Serbia’s institutions. Also, the scenes of horror are chronicled in a report released last Wednesday by Mental Disability Rights International, a U.S.-based human rights group that alleges systematic abuse of mentally disabled patients in Serbia's psychiatric hospitals and social care institutions.
As I watched the news story, as I reviewed the report, I told myself that such atrocities could surely not exist in the United States. I had to believe that as my absolute biggest fear is what will happen to my children with disabilities when I am no longer able to care for them myself. But a little more research proved me wrong. The United States was also guilty as chronicled in the report “Christmas In Purgatory”.
The pictures in both reports are disturbing, disturbing beyond words. But, they should be seen by everyone who considers themselves a part of the human race. It is incomprehensible to me that one human being can do this to another. The world community must see and acknowledge and must then demand an end to such torture and abuse.
I would like to write more, but this subject still sickens me - physically sickens me. My wish is it will do the same to everyone else that takes the time to explore the story.
Deciding who will care for your children is never an easy task, as nobody will be able to raise your kids exactly as you do. When you consider a child with a disability, the decision becomes even harder. We must consider mother (guardian), conservator, therapist, advocate, and teacher- all rolled up into someone with patience and an understanding.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my biggest current fears. There is nobody that I know of who would be beneficial to Jaysen, and that scares me. I just pray that someone "gets it" before it is my time.