Cerebral Palsy

Last Sunday on CBC radio I was lucky enough to tune in to one of the most moving mea culpas I have ever heard. Paula Boone, who is from Huntsville just down Highway 11 from here, had the bravery to go on the national network and explain to the nation how much of a fraud she had been in her youth. Her mother had been a nurse at an institution and regularly brought home to the family a young fellow Timmy with cerebral palsy. He was confined to a wheel chair and his communications were grunts. Paula was much admired for the manner in which she communicated with Timmy, regularly singing a particular song to him to his delight. Turns out though in many ways she despised him and was scunnered by his handicap. Years later after not having seen him or indeed given him much thought, she visited to tell Timmy of her engagement. He went ballistic and she had to leave. See, the song she had sung to him promised of her marrying him, and Timmy had taken it to heart. Now he felt betrayed. His feelings ran deep, something we often overlook in the way we treat handicapped persons. Why would his emotions differ just because he couldn't share them in the "normal" way?
Source: Paula Boone, CBC Radio, Sunday Edition, 15th October, 2006.