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We’ve seen how glowingly the media treated the children who participated in Wednesday’s walkout (as sponsored by the Women’s March). And the Women’s March is still busy toting the awesomeness of their totally-spontaneous-not-at-all-astroturfed walkout. But these images represent a new low, even for them.
https://twitter.com/womensmarch/status/974703695811301376
Your eyes do not deceive you. These are special needs students who attend the Viscardi Center in Albertson, New York, who were “walking out” on Wednesday. The Viscardi Center advertises itself (on the page that glowingly talks about their students “protesting”):
About The Viscardi Center: Founded by Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr., who served as disability advisor to eight U.S. Presidents and became one of the world’s leading advocates, The Viscardi Center educates, employs and empowers people with disabilities. It provides kindergarten through high school education (up to age 21), school-to-work youth transition services, vocational training, career counseling and employment placement, assistive technology, and adapted driver education to children, adolescents, and adults with a wide variety of disabilities. It also assists businesses in diversifying their workforces and advancing inclusive cultures in their workplaces.
And the Center even tweeted about their protest, which the Women’s March then cheered on in their tweet.
Students from the #HenryViscardiSchool participated in #NationalWalkoutDay to honor the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting and encourage change. pic.twitter.com/OUetooOi2p
— The Viscardi Center (@ViscardiCenter) March 14, 2018
So, I have a question for the Viscardi Center, as the parent of special needs children who will eventually need legal guardianship:
DID YOU GET PERMISSION TO REMOVE THESE STUDENTS FROM CLASS FOR THIS PROTEST?
Because if you did not, and that was MY child out there holding a sign that he could not understand, without MY permission, we would be talking through our lawyers. Despite the excuses from another Women’s March-affiliated account, this is absolutely inexcusable.
We are extremely proud of the students at @ViscardiCenter and deeply sadden by some of the ableist remarks people have had because they believe disabled people can’t have opinions on political topics. We will continue to make our opinions known. #Enough https://t.co/ue6QoVfHxu
— WMWDisabilityCaucus (@WMWDisability) March 16, 2018
Yeah, no. I will make a judgement call, given the Center’s own description of their students, plus the physical appearance of the students in these pictures, and I will guarantee you that I will find students who could not consent to leaving the classroom, and I bet they didn’t get parental permission for it, either. This is, by definition, exploitation.
"Ableist" is not recognizing their humanity. We are discussing consent. And you shouldn't be discussing anything about this without an attorney present.
— David Steinberg (@DavidSPJM) March 16, 2018
Something seriously WRONG in your heads
"Here, hold this poster because its the right thing to do"
"What's the poster about?"
"The right thing. Don't ask, just hold it up. If you don't people will die and you don;t want blood on yoru hands"
— Empire Sentry (@empire_sentry) March 16, 2018
There's that word again that leftists have been tossing around the last couple days; "ableist". I've got a choice word that should be thought of every time you post something stupid: exploitation. You'e exploited these children to promote your leftist agenda.
— MarkInSavannah (@DevilinGeorgia) March 16, 2018
I sure hope none of them have been legally affirmed as below the threshold for a minor's autonomy. Otherwise, this is sick and you need a lawyer.
— David Steinberg (@DavidSPJM) March 16, 2018
I have worked in classrooms with kids like these. You are monsters for using them like this. You need to sit and think about what you have done here.
— Amy Hitchen (@AmyHitchen6) March 16, 2018
Imagine where you have to be as an adult to wheel out a bunch of special needs kids and put your political propaganda in their laps. Was there nobody there who thought, "This feels wrong"?
— Doctor Jesse Kelly® (@JesseKellyDC) March 16, 2018
And other special needs parents like myself are equally horrified.
My daughter receives special education services at her school. She cannot read, and would literally hold any sign handed to her. This is horribly wrong.
— Tracy Thomas (@tracylorithomas) March 16, 2018
Did each of these students consent? We’re all able to give legal consent? If not, there might be violations of laws going on here. If that was my kid and he didn’t consent, you would be negotiating with my attorney.
— Andrews Dad (@Andrew_Dad) March 16, 2018
They do have brains of their own. As the father of an autistic child, my best guess is at least a few of the kids pictures are not legally capable of giving consent. My kid is capable, his IQ is considerably above average but if told he had to protest he would have replied F off
— Andrews Dad (@Andrew_Dad) March 16, 2018
So, as a special needs parent of a middle schooler on the autism spectrum, let me tell you what I did for my son on Wednesday. (My daughter’s story is here.) My 6th grade son’s school was also participating in this walkout (my children do not attend the same school due to his disability program), and while my son is many things, politically aware is not one of them. We are constantly on our guard because he can be easily led (he has a hard time reading others’ intentions), and have many accommodations written into his individual education plan (IEP) to make sure he is not led astray or bullied by other students.
I emailed his case manager (who is also one of his teachers), along with the teachers from the period of time that encompassed the scheduled walkout, and informed them all that he did not have my permission to leave the classroom, he was not to participate in this walkout, and that no student was to tell him otherwise. All his teachers responded affirmatively, and he stayed in class, under adult supervision, carrying on with his class with the least amount of disruption to his day.
I did this because I didn’t want any misunderstanding between myself and his teaching team. I would have been livid if I had found out that my express directions had been ignored. Can I say with absolute certainty that all the Viscardi Center parents communicated their wishes to their instructors as clearly as I did? No, but neither can anyone else assume that every single parent consented to allowing their disabled student be taken out of class that day, either. Again, this is exploitation!
Oh, and a parting thought about the end goals of the Women’s March, who are so busy lauding and using these Viscardi Center students for their virtue signaling:
If they had their way, these kids wouldnt have been born in the first place.
— Curtis Shibe Bader (@CurtisBader) March 16, 2018
But since they’re here, the Women’s Center and their own school see nothing wrong about using them to protest for their approved cause.
rbj says: I worked as a child care worker at a Devereux residential school right after college. IIRC we were not supposed to discuss any child’s case because of HIPPA. Seems like an awful lot of HIPPA violations going on here.
Micha Elyi says: It’s not “HIPPA”, it’s ‘HIPAA”. The acronym is not pronounced to rhyme with Pippa, it’s most correctly pronounced as ‘high-pay’. Remember, when a vowel is separated by another vowel by only one consonant, the leading vowel is pronounced as a long vowel. And when two vowels go walking together, the first one does all the talking (i.e., is pronounced as a long vowel and the second vowel in the pair is silent).
Evil Otto says: That’s nice, Micha. I’ve got a word for you: pedantic. Feel free to tell me how to pronounce it.
MarkM says: As long as the discussion is appropriately anonymous, there is no violation oh HIPAA. Parents are not prevented by HIPAA from talking about their child. HIPAA primarily governs what medical professionals and their support (“covered person”) can do with the information. There is a separate statute which requires schools to keep certain information about their students confidential, actually. That one has not been broken here either.
There is a word for removing these students to the sidewalk without their consent (assuming they are capable of giving such consent) or their parents’ consent for the teachers’ benefit… I believe that meets the definition of kidnapping.
Jodi says: That last tweet is EXACTLY what I was thinking, Deanna. This is the most egregious example of exploitation I have ever seen.
Dave says: It’s even better in Massachusetts: Mentally disabled adults are registered to vote, and an assistant accompanies them into the voting booth and “helps” them fill out their ballots! Not letting them vote would be ableist, you see.
Tecumsehtea says: As the parent of a mentally impaired adult, I, too, would be livid. Am I surprised that this happened? Not at all. These children were just props, means to an end, just like the regular kids are to their “betters.” Once our son turned 18 he was “helped” to register to vote, without our consent, even though we are his legal guardians, as well as his parents. Imagine our surprise when he got a postcard from Obama thanking him for his support. Our son cannot read or write. He is developmentally 5-8 years old. We contacted our county clerk and explained the situation and he was removed from the voter rolls. When we asked around at his program as to how this all came about, one of the aides explained that when they took the students to the DMV for their state IDs they also registered them to vote. I had to sign a permission form to allow them to get his ID. Nobody said anything about registering to vote.
GWB says: As we say in the targeting business, Deanna: SHACK!
(Direct hit)
Cosima Burundi says: It’s no harder than hanging your signs on utility poles, and you save money on staples to boot.
Sh Rembo says: Why aren’t the people of this school calling out that is was a National WALKout Day? Isn’t that insensitive? Looks like some of these children couldn’t walk out. Oh, that’s right. Hypocrisy is ok if it’s done by the left.
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