Best Article On Disability By A Parent

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Michael Bérubé, Al Jazeera America - May 25, 2014

 (Via the Autistic Self Advocacy Network Tumblr blog).

This is the best first-person article on disability by a parent of a disabled child I have ever read. It is very personal and anecdotal, but also connects one young man’s experiences with larger policy issues. Mr. Bérubé keeps the article focused on his son, Jamie, while also expressing how he, Jamie's father feels.

The picture he paints isn’t entirely gloomy. Age 21 isn’t quite the “cliff” it is sometimes said to be for disabled kids. There are systems in place with decent and improving philosophies behind them. Yet, so many disabilities … especially it seems intellectual disabilities … seem still to still baffle us, probably unnecessarily.

This is personal journalism at its best.