Monday, August 18, 2008

A Very Big Deal

Pictured - Special Olympics Virginia athletes Frank Stephens (left) and Paul Marretti (right) with Quincy Jones


Although the disability blog world has been full of posts and outrage at the Tropic Thunder movie, I haven't had a chance to express my personal feelings of disgust. However, even though I was consumed with the issues and challenges of the severe disabilities conference I attended last week, that didn't mean I wasn't thinking about Tropic Thunder.

I decided Sunday morning that I would compose my post on the subject, but then I found an article in my morning newspaper that spoke to the subject better than I ever could.

John Franklin Stephens, a 26 year old man with Down Syndrome, wrote a piece for the Sunday commentary section of the newspaper. John is a Special Olympics Virginia athlete and a global messenger for the Special Olympics. He is also a young man with a voice that needs to be heard...

The Term "Retard" Is a Big Deal to People Like Me

4 comments:

Attila the Mom said...

Wow---what a powerful message. Thanks so much for posting this!

Terri said...

thank you for sharing this!!!

Anonymous said...

You are right. Who better to speak about it than someone with Downs.

Allie said...

Again, I sit here in my ignorance at the shock that I feel at how cruel the world really is out there. I don't get it: I have never treated people as such - it was just never within the thought process.

What a truly incredible young man Mr. Stephens is and I hope that his message humbles people.