October 4, 2014 - 14:28
I think Monica and David portrayed disability as something that has its limitations, but is not debilitating. Monica and David were limited to staying with their parents for the rest of their lives, or living with another family. When David developed diabetes, Monica’s step-father gave his insulin. However, after a while David was able to do it himself. I couldn’t help but compare it to my family vacation over the summer. (What are the ethics of that, as per the discussion we had in Anne’s class?) My 7 year old cousin was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and July was the first time I saw her since her diagnosis. So it was a big deal for her to be able to prick her finger by herself and do the insulin shot by herself. I saw so many parallels between the way my 7 year old cousin was treated and how David was treated. To be honest, I’m not sure how well I am able to separate my own notions of Down syndrome in my head and the way the movie portrayed Monica and David, but I couldn’t help but think that they strongly resembled children, instead of people in their 30’s.
Although I am very interested in exploring the way that we treat/view children. When Georgiana Kleege was writing about reading recorded books, she said that much of the stigma behind it came from the association of listening to a book to childhood (pg 170). And from that society has deduced that listening to a book is not worthwhile? On the next pg, pg 171, I underlined the sentence, “He was equating the ability to read silently with maturity and autonomy.” Which made me think about the concept of interdependence versus independence. Which now makes me question my own conclusion of Monica and David’s interdependence with Monica’s parents as childish. Did that conclusion come directly from the movie or was it a flaw in my connection between David and my cousin?
I think the movie also sent the message that to be happy with a child with developmental disabilities you have to have money. Monica’s mother did not want Monica or David to have to work in a supermarket because of the hardships that they might face. That left Monica and David only working part-time. But not all families have that privilege. When working at Women’s Medical Fund in Philly I get a lot of calls from women who have children with Down syndrome. These women often have other children and a small income that they receive from welfare. Usually their income is around $700, a a bit over $1,000 a month if they’re lucky. Can they afford to pay for an elaborate wedding and a new house that has it’s own wing for their child and her husband? Unfortunately, no. This reminds me of the discussions that we have had about Camphill. A very idealistic situation that is not available to everyone.