This genre of story ("shit I've had to put up with thanks to my severely disabled sibling," as you put it) has a social context. You may just be writing how you feel, but my reaction is:
1. Does A. have the skills to write a story about the shit she's had to put up with thanks to you? About the things you will never do?
2. If A. needed help writing a story like that, do you think your family or the staff at school would be willing to help her? Do you think they would ever suggest that she write such a story?
3. If A. wrote a story like that, do you think people would read it and be sympathetic?
I'm pretty sure that the answer to all these questions is no. So I think that just writing how you feel isn't enough. I feel like if you're going to write something about A., you'd better make damn sure that you're being compassionate--really compassionate, compassionate to A. as an individual, not "she will never" compassionate which is not about A. at all.
You have a lot of power as someone who has the language skills to express yourself without help, and you have a lot of privilege as a person who is not disabled. With great power comes great responsibility.
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Yeah!
ReplyDeleteI love that Square 8 post on the "she will never" thing. My mom has told me, now that I'm in college, that she used to worry constantly about whether I would ever go to college (she also worried about whether I would ever drive a car, which I still can't do). I don't remember ever hearing any of these worries expressed, though. I mean, what a horrible thing to tell a child.
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