Experience with oppression (ableism)

My son who had muscle and joint laxity experienced bias and prejudice while in school, especially elementary school.  He had an unusual gait and tended to pull muscles easily, so he could not run as fast or long as other children and was picked on and never chosen for sports teams.  This had a huge impact on his self identity and even to this day at age 31 he struggles with who he is and what he wants out of life.

            The oppression kept him from fully participating in team sports and pick up games.  He would go out for a sport and then be bullied so bad he would hide during practice and then come home like nothing happened.  His diminished sense of competency diminished his equity to participating.

            As his mother, my first reaction was anger on his behalf.  I wanted to protect him just as Nadiyah spoke about wanting to protect her son from prejudice.  I could see his pain over the years and try as  I might I could not help him.  I wish those people would have gotten to know him better, he has so many great traits that go beyond physical abilities.  I feel guilty that I failed him as a mother.

            Perhaps educating the coaches or the teachers on his disability and encouraging him to talk to me about his feelings.  We could also have offered more opportunities for him to participate in other sports.  We did teach him how to roller skate and enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do which he enjoyed and both of those were more about pushing yourself rather than being pushed by  teammates.  The harder thing to change her is the herd mentality of elementary aged children.  Educating the children on treating others with respect, offering them opportunities to process various ways they could include Josh in their acitivities.