As I’ve mentioned before, my son, CT (sometimes called The OG Kid since he likes the Olive Garden), is homeschooled. We’ve been homeschooling him since he was in second grade. With Aspergers and Bipolar Disorder, the school system wasn’t exactly supportive of CT and his special needs. While he is quite smart, he needs one on one assistance to stay focused. The school system took his inability to concentrate as a cue to give him substandard work (they were giving him “spell cat” worksheets geared for kindergarteners late into first grade).

Of course, CT’s solution was to not do the work. He knew how to spell cat, so why should he have to prove it over and over in these stupid worksheets? At home, he was already exploring his mom’s Shakespeare books. The easy work made him bored, but the on-level work meant he wouldn’t do it because he didn’t have the supervision to keep him focused. Needless to say, the school system was mean and abusive about it, so for his own safety and well being, he’s been homeschooled.

I started dating my girlfriend in 2002. I’ve been through part of 3rd grade and onward homeschool-wise. I also grew up in a household with a teacher, so I’ve graded papers, kind of knew how to do lesson plans, and I spent my senior year of high school working at the elementary during free class periods as both a tutor and a teacher’s aide. Still, none of that could have prepared me for planning an entire year of school. I can see why (sadly) some public school teachers just brush over school lessons. It is a lot of hard work when you have to plan out a curriculum.

Unlike public schools, CT uses his entire book. I remember the teachers in my school skipping over lessons and doing what they wanted. Our theory is, if it is in a school book, the lesson is there for a reason. I’d hate to skim over something that might help him better understand future lessons. Besides, I find that completing a book fits in well with his schedule. Sure, we’ve had to make a few tweaks and change around a few classes here and there, but the planning process is imperative, to make sure CT learns everything we want him to learn.

This year, things are going to be different for CT. When it is all said and done, we’ll have paid around $1000 for everything he has needed for the year. Granted, this is the year he received his graphing calculator, but we’ve also decided to do a lot more hands-on activities. Usually, we’ve just had him do book work. With him being so visual and sensory, we’re hoping a more hands-on curriculum will make his school year run more smoothly. Yes, he’ll still have to complete book work, but with some internet activities and hands-on experiments it should balance things out to where he’ll start to realize school can be fun.

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I know that I only touch on politics occasionally. This is surprising since I spent three years as a Political Science major at Wright State University. At WSU, there were some very knowledgeable professors I had the honor of taking classes with, so you’d think I’d write more on politics. Right now, I just don’t have too much to say on the topic.

I know those of you who know me well are thinking, “You?! Dominick?! Don’t have anything to say on a topic you know a considerable amount about? That’s a first!”

Truth be told, I feel like I’ve spent the last year venting verbally about all of the crap that was going on election-wise. I’m to the point where I’m nearly vented out. I knew none of my options were going to be perfect, not even Hillary, whom I had hoped to be voting for come November 2008. Still, I know what the economy was like under the Clintons and while Bill made his mistakes (I’m not in love with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and that whole Rwanda genocide thing was a terrible disappointment), I always knew that I could afford food and gas was, at one point, less than a dollar. I remember the days of 99 cents during the Clinton administration, the first time gas dipped that low since I was a kid.

Heck, I remember my dad being pissed off when gas cost over $1.30. If he were still alive he’d be having a shit fit that gas has hit $4.00 and doesn’t dip below $3.70 where I live (which has to be similar to Toledo’s pricing considering I only live 2 hours away from where I grew up). Sadly, I don’t see the price of gas dropping drastically any time soon, but if anyone could get the price back down to something at least somewhat reasonable, I believe that person is Hillary Clinton. Needless to say, stupid people are supporting Barack “Taxman” Obama instead.

I don’t get why people do not see that we’ll be screwed either way. Obama plans to raise taxes, taxes and more taxes for everyone. Honestly, taking our money out elsewhere to put more money in the gas fund doesn’t help the problem. It just shifts the money distribution around. Don’t even get me started on Barack’s plan for the massively growing unemployment rate for the disabled (approaching the 80%’s I believe?). It’s bad enough that everyone is unemployed. Sheltered workshops for one of the most vulnerable minority groups in America isn’t the answer to the problem. Remember Barack, separate but equal didn’t work in the South and it won’t work now with the disabled community!

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So, I’ve received emails and comments from people in the BIID community defending themselves. That’s fine. Seriously, I expected this to happen. What I didn’t expect was the following things:

1. Nearly every person in the BIID community that has contacted me has resorted to name calling and trying to anger me by saying things to try and hurt me

2. The BIID community keeps saying that I’m trying to present my view as fact

First, let me say that I don’t really care what any of you think. I know who I am and I am happy. Calling me “Dominica” and “she” and “bitch” just makes me laugh. Why would I really care what you think of me? I don’t even know you people. Sticks and stones and all. Furthermore, using that as your argument really shows that you have no other way of defending yourself. You try to point out others shortcomings or what you deem as shortcomings to try and win an argument. All that does is make you look bad.

Secondly, I listed the article as “My Perspective”. Since when does My Perspective mean, “The facts according to Dominick?” I don’t pretend to know all the facts nor present MY opinions as facts. It is what I believe based on knowing someone with BIID personally, based on what I’ve read of those with BIID (from their own experiences) and based on the minimal amount of documented research by psychological professionals, on the topic.

To make things more simple (and this is the last time I plan to write a blog about this unless some “massive research” comes to light on this topic or unless BIID sufferers try to pass some sort of bill legitimizing their right to the services so scarce to the physically disabled), my biggest problems with BIID are this:

#1. People with BIID seem to have it in their minds that their only treatment option is hacking off a limb, paralysis or making themselves disabled in some way. This is what they’ve said in their own posts. “The only cure is to become disabled.” That’s their words not mine.

My thought is that (and science will back this up) if a person has it so ingrained in their mind that there is only one solution, they shut down their mind to the possibility of other solutions. Sure, medication and behavioral therapy won’t work if you firmly believe in your mind the only solution is to become disabled. That is what I meant by saying that many BIID sufferers do not try to get better, because they accept only one possible “treatment” option and I use the term treatment very loosely.

Note: Upon reading stories of people with BIID, I’ve come to a conclusion.

1. Many with BIID have admitted that they have:

A. Parents who were/are either alcoholics, drug addicts, and/or excessively overbearing
B. A time in their life when they were abused (sexually, physically and even psychologically)
C. Extended moments of isolation
D. A need to be noticed

While I know that anyone can be abused and have parents who are drunks and yet they can still be well adjusted, those with BIID that mention this admit they felt isolated from their parents, their psychologists, and that these incidents did affect them. With this in mind, couldn’t BIID be actually an attention seeking behavior? I wonder if those with BIID find becoming disabled a way to make themselves different or special, so they can receive attention and be noticed because they never got this from their parents? The excessive satisfaction those with BIID get from pretending seems to support the fact that a part of their immense pleasure comes from the attention/acknowledgment they receive.

It’s just a thought from my astute observation.

#2. There are some with BIID who (having disabled themselves) admit they get state benefits. These are state benefits geared towards the physically disabled. Do you know how hard it is for many of us to get and maintain these benefits? I do not think it is FAIR to a person born with a disability to be denied a wheelchair while someone with BIID is able to have the state purchase a chair for them. As a taxpayer, I don’t want to pay for someone who has BIID (or at least not physically disabled benefits). If a BIID sufferer gets benefits for the mentally disabled like therapy and what not, well I believe BIID is a mental illness, those benefits are fine.

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I keep getting emails about protesting the film Tropic Thunder. As a film critic who works quite a bit with Paramount, my own personal interest in this disability debacle is high. While I do believe our society has become desensitized to words that might be harmful and hateful to others, “retard”, “gay”, we’ve all used them out of context at least once in our life, I don’t believe that this film is the right forum for disability rights activists to try and change the way people see those who are intellectually disabled.

I have to agree on this issue with the executive editor of FilmSchoolRejects, Neil Miller, whose article was featured on CNN. He states that adults should be able to process this movie for what it is. They should be able to take the jokes with a grain of salt and realize this is a parody. Likewise, parents should heed the R rating, as it shows “inappropriate content” not suitable for those under the age of 18. So, why all the fuss and muss? Why go so over the top to get this film off the market?

I feel the pain of the disability rights groups protesting this movie, but as someone involved in creative endeavors I also realize that parody isn’t often PC. Do I believe Ben Stiller had malicious intents when he made this film? No. I don’t think Ben Stiller is prejudice in a way that he meant to cause malice and harm. Do I think that he tried to make this film over the top? Yes, I do. I think he tried to find ways to offend everyone just to get a laugh. Comedians are un-PC all the time, and yet we don’t see protestations of all of the crude things comedians say in clubs, on comedy specials or even on television shows.

If we’re going to attack this movie, why not attack Sarah Silverman’s self-titled show on Comedy Central? Silverman makes fun of anyone and everything including AIDS and abortion. I find her show to be equally offensive just for the sense of comedic irony. That’s part of what freedom of speech is all about. There are plenty of things I’d like to protest, when it comes to “Freedom of Speech”, but it just isn’t fair for me to have my say and then not let others have theirs.

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Ever since the server meltdown with the Planet, everything has been so crazy. I’ve had to try and makeup doing reviews for all the days I missed and finding the time to get caught up has not been easy. On top of that, I’ve been out and about quite a bit. I have had quite a few appointments and with the prospect of finally returning to college after the five years since my injury made me leave, I’m even busier than ever.

I feel like I haven’t really been able to sit back and relax. Sure, I’ve had time playing with the PS3 and the Wii (we got some new games to play and we’re working with new companies who want us to review their games…including Rockband. How sweet is that?), but even that has its moments where I think “I’m just doing this for work purposes”. Our one business is booming so Ash has spent all her time running packages to the post office and constantly apologizing for not being able to work on her reviews. I figure I can get caught up on mine and then go back to work on hers. As long as we’re steadily sending in our reviews the companies don’t seem to mind if they’re a little late.

I’m also trying to get Big K’s website going. I have an idea for the design, but he doesn’t really deal well in me explaining my vision. He would do better seeing it. That means I’m just waiting on him to give me a list of links he wants up on his page. I know he has the potential to rack in the dough with the website, which is one of the only reasons I’m doing it for free (that and I’m a nice brother-in-law), but it is hard trying to explain to a somewhat computer illiterate person what links are and why I need them!

CT is dragging his feet lately. Just a few more weeks of summer reading and then he begins 8th grade. The last book or so he’s been sitting around for hours until something good is happening in our house, then he tries to rush through reading because he wants to go do that ‘good thing’. I keep trying to tell him that he gets his designated computer and Leapster handheld time after he does his work, but that doesn’t seem to appease him anymore. He’s more receptive to the “once your summer reading is done you have free time until school begins”.

I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to convince him to read, but know he’ll transition better to when he has school since he had summer reading and not just a non-working summer break. What I don’t get is, once he’s reading he’s totally into the books I’ve chosen for him. It’s just getting him to start reading that is so damn hard!

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