LOGAN'S PONY CLUB
FOR CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY Contact Logan
LETTERS TO THE TORONTO SUN
HOW SAD that Christina Blizzard (Oct. 5) still clings to the notion severely handicapped Children should be bused to some far off school to be contained and educated apart from "normal kids".
My 3-year-old son, Logan has cerebral palsy and is educated right alongside the other kids in school. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care supplies the classroom with a support facilitator who can help my son learn and strive to be the best he can be.
Logan is a brilliant boy who is trapped in a body unable to respond property to his wishes. As he struggles to co-ordinate the hundreds of necessary muscles to say a simple word such as yes, he may blurt it out in triumph, which to me is a miracle, not a disruption according to Blizzard's narrow view.
The other children, through Logan, learn about compassion and understanding for others who are different yet equal in their importance.
In Christina's perfect classroom, this miracle of humanity would never be learned first-hand, as Logans classmates are able to do. They love him unconditionally and help him to participate with the group.
Our own mayor, Robert M. Morrow, drops by from time to time to give Logan a swing in the 'Big Red Swing Seat', he had installed in the school's playground.
In my view, all children like Logan deserve the same opportunities as any other child living in Ontario. Integration of these children will produce a more caring and compassionate teenager with the sense of understanding we adults need to re-awaken in ourselves from time to time. Go Logan, go!
Mark-Alan Whittle
(Blizzard only wishes the best for Logan and thinks he'd be better off with teachers trained to work with disabled kids)
AT THE RISK of sounding heartless, I must respond to Mark Whittles letter regarding the integration of severely handicapped children into regular classrooms I have worked in a classroom which included such a child and have several reservations about the pro-gram.
I was concerned at the expense in both time and money required to meet the child's needs. There were toys and equipment in the class, including a cot and a mini-trampoline for this child's exclusive use. As he was unable to join in most of the class activities, he had a full-time teaching assistant The classroom teacher put in extra time preparing a separate day plan for this child, as well as meeting regularly with various therapists
Expense aside, I did not feel the child was able to grow optimally in this setting. The children indeed made a pet of him and rushed to assist him in tasks he would be learning to do for himself In a group of similarly disabled children. when he misbehaved, he became "class clown".
The best solution I have seen is to include a class of handicapped children in a regular school. Trained staff and special equipment are shared and there is interaction on various levels with the rest of the school.
I too am rooting for Whittles son Logan, but the sort of help he Is receiving from classmates now may not, as he grows older, enable him to reach his full potential and dignity.
J. Conway
(The solution you describe makes a lot of sense)
MICHAEL COREN'S "A world of difference" (Dec. 16) evoked a tidal wave of emotional pride and unconditional love that I share with my disabled boy, Logan. Being born dead and surviving resuscitation is a miracle in itself but pales in comparison to what Logan has achieved in four short years. At his birth, I refused to believe the professionals who intoned that he "would never walk or talk" and would be a "vegetable" and need constant care. When Logan began to smile and repeat "I like, I like, I like" at everyone and anything interesting, I knew I was halfway there. When he raised over $750 dollars for our local Children's Hospital in his first walkathon at 2 years old, I was bursting with pride at beating the doctors' prognosis. Cerebral palsy has locked a brilliant mind in a body that fails to respond to his wishes. Logan is blissfully unaware society deems this a problem and works diligently to dispel this widespread misconception. I give him a helping hand whenever he needs it. Michael Coren has discovered, as I have, the amazing peace and tranquility these kids evoke within us. Most ordinary folks, when faced with such bald and innocent behaviour, so altruistic in its delivery, instinctively suppress this inner child as dictated by an unforgiving and jaded society. Have we become disconnected from our ability to open our hearts and souls to others who are inspiring and unique like Katie and Logan? I pray for those who are unable.
Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton
(Those with such closed minds truly need our prayers)