The Special Olympics fiasco

I know there has been some discussion recently about the "remark" or reference that was made by the President on the Jay Leno Tonight Show--- and it apprears as if the country is split down the middle on whether it was approriate or not ... as a mother of a kid that has many special challenges in his life this is my take----

Should there have been a reference to "Special Olympics" probably not but in a completely "included" society there would not be Special Olympics anyway--- all altheletes of all abilities would compete all at the same time == perhaps in different classes of performance but we would not even have SEPARATE games -- Thats how the real world should be; complete inclusion. But lets all get real here, we as parents want our kids to suceeed and have the feeling of success just as others in the typical community so things are "agumented" to accomodate accomplishment-- THATS OK!
But when a person is having a casual, off the cuff, nonscripted conversation and makes a reference to something as "less than"by referring to the Special Olympics; while the cool host of the show is obviously teasing him about his performance or lack thereof ;should not be chastised.

We have to have the ability ourselves to discern between vicious mean remarks and ones that are clearly just a mistake. On one of the web groups I subcribe to a mother was really upset about this coment and well as another "media sound bite" that made a reference to the "short bus" being the ones that our kids usually are assigned to. I completely understand her feelings by the same token we have to let some things go

this was my response to her:
I respect your opinion and believe you have every right to take issue with disparaging remarks that refer to people who have the extra challenges in their lives. I also believe that there should be every opportunity afforded special needs, disabled or handicapped people that is available to the typical community.
By the same token, after being a part of this challenged community > for over 20 years I have come to realize that all of us cannot take issue with every word from every person as hateful, distasteful, or mean. I know that we have to start by leading as examples to our kids. We cannot be hateful or spiteful or even verbally abusive towards others and then surprised when our kids regurgitate the same sentiments.
I have also discovered that we have enough on our plate trying to get those, who have the fate of out children's futures in their hands, the ability to understand how much promise our kids possess without taking on the whole world. We are super sensitive to remarks and we are on a quest to educate everyone.We also have to get to the point where we recognize that not everyone will be on board every time and that's OK--BECAUSE when it means fighting for our kid we will and when it doesn't affect us we have to let it go...
In short its not about accepting what you don't agree with its more about picking your battles strategically and objecting when it will make a difference for your child or your family.

Well I guess that's all I have to say on this subject-- I hope that it will provoke your thought process and perhaps allow you to look at things a little bit differently!