Martin Luther King said, "The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I've held these words to my heart as a hope and comfort many times in the past few years - following the fiasco that was our government's handling of Katrina, and always when I think about this sad interminable war. I really do believe that we humans will fail and fail again, but that, in the long view, we bumble towards the right direction: Race relations are a mess, but we did, at least, end slavery; women face continued discrimination, but we do have the right to vote. It's not perfect but it's progress.
But right now I'm feeling that Dr. King's words offer the best consolation to those who have the privilege of hindsight. Today my usually unflappable husband had another meeting with the school district. When he came home he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while for fear of exploding in fury. Finally he calmed down enough to tell me how they lied, distorted the truth, contradicted things they'd said last week....
I do believe that, in time, most schools will have decent, effective programs for autism. Because it's becoming a national emergency. Because the lives of so many of us are or will be affected by autism. But for me and my daughter stuck here in the bad old days, that distant arc toward justice is not much help. I want to overcome today, tomorrow, or even next year. But for my baby's sake not just "someday."
1 comment:
Time to call in the lawyers. I have a number of friends with special needs kids and it wasn't until some with a J.D. walked into the school's office that the lying and stalling stopped.
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