Angry!

Joan said I talked in my sleep all night last night. She said I actually yelled a few times. I'm not surprised. Few things anger me more than caring parents of a special child having their ethics questioned. Add to the fact that it is a supposed lawyer who loves the limelight despite that she comes across as a hick and an embarrassment to the South.

I couldn't find the broadcast but I did find the transcript from last night's show. You'll need to skip down a few paragraphs and begin reading right after the page reads "End Clip." I'm going to seek out this family's blog and link to it as well.

I'll be interested to read some of your comments.

****Update****

Here's the parents blog: The Ashley Treatment.

****Another Update****

I've visited several websites, blogs, and journals to see responses to this story. For the most part people are very sympathetic to Ashley's family plight. But there the jerks and sanctimonious assholes of the world that say the family aren't deserving of the child, they are inflicting cruelty, they are genetically altering children ala Adolf Hitler. Generally these people have no children nor have they gotten their facts straight about the real details of the situation. I was challenged to respond to fittingly named Angry Lab Rat's uninformed opinion. You can read it at that link.

This is my response:

Well Lab Rat, I've accepted your challenge to read your opinion and I will respond accordingly. You are obviously very misinformed in regards to the complexity of the situation Ashley's parents are and will be facing.

As I mentioned I have a little boy with multiple disabilities. I know what daily life is like for those folks. For people outside the home this is the only time they peek into our world. It is usually brief and without a complete picture of the family.

First, for someone to suggest Ashley's parents are doing this solely for convenience is ludicrous. Even more ludicrous is saying they don't deserve to have Ashley to begin with or that they do not love her. Next in regards to your accusation that they are sterilizing their child for the protection against rape or some other nonsense.

One of the girls in my son's class has had severe seizure activity since birth. In their research and discovery, it is quite common for females with disabilities to begin having their menstrual cycles early. This was Ashley's case - she was beginning to experience puberty changes at the age of six. Once the cycles begin there is no turning back the clock. Not only are the menstrual periods more painful and longer than those of a normal child but they trigger very intense clusters of seizure activity which are nearly impossible to control even with medication.

At the moment my friend's child is facing this very thing. Her seizures are coming in clusters one week of each month now - she is nine. This child has already broken an arm last summer and more recently a leg at school during particularly bad seizures.

In regards to the removal of the breast buds. Again the comfort of the child is more at stake than some therapist groping the girl one day. Just like my son Ashley spends lots of time in stationary equipment like standers that facilitate bone & muscle growth. These devices are uncomfortable to begin with. Should Ashley develop breasts the size of those that are genetically inherited, it could be detrimental to her health. My son typically is treated for rashes that occur in sweat areas, near glands, or by urine in his groin.

So if you care to continue your misinformed and uneducated argument then why don't you come on over to our blog and read a little about real life with an exceptional child. One last thing. I'm going to make an educated guess that you aren't married nor do you have children of your own.

(Okay I don't know if he's married but he does have two kids of his own - see what educated guesses can get you?)