Discrimination

Today I experienced discrimination for my 1st time. At first, I didn't think of it as discrimination, until I looked up the word.

treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction infavor of or against, a person or thing based on

the group,class, or category to which that person or thing belongsrather than on individual merit: racial

and religiousintolerance and discrimination.

Yesterday, Web and I went to visit a mom's day out program at a very well respected church in our neighborhood. (I will avoid the name of the church just in case, but I am so tempted to throw them under the bus). It was great. We liked the director, we were only going to sign up for 1 day, and we told them everything about Caroline there is to know. Yes, she breaks, but she can crawl, sit, play, swing, feed herself, nap, etc. Yes, we have to be careful when it comes to changing her diaper or picking her up, but all in all she is pretty "normal". The director's attitude was simple. Let's see how it goes, and if they don't feel comfortable then they will talk to us and we will go from there. Done and done. I called her that afternoon and told her we would love for Caroline to go every Friday from 9-2. Of course, Web and I were apprehensive, but we felt confident that Caroline would do well. We even decided to wait until after her next PAM treatment, plus the director agreed I could come in and train the 2 teachers Caroline would be with every Friday. All was well. I asked a couple of friends about nap mats, and just this morning talked to a friend about labeling Caroline's clothes, bag, sippy cups, etc. We were so excited.

Well this morning, it all changed. Out of nowhere, we received a call from the director advising me that she had talked to her pastor and it was decided that they "were not equipped to handle her disability" and that they "can't afford" to bring in a 3rd teacher in the classroom. I was shocked. I just sat on the phone in pure amazement that this was happening. How could they do this to Caroline? She is totally innocent. She didn't ask to have OI. Yes, she has soft bones, but should she be punished like this? Well needless to say after I hung up, I got pissed. I called Web and told him while crying. After talking to him, I just started bawling. My sweet Caroline was being punished and I couldn't do anything about it.

I called the director back up and asked her again verbatim what was said. By this time, I was going to write a letter to this pastor and tell him what I thought. She could tell that this time I was past upset, and I wanted revenge. I want her to feel the pain I am in. Of course, I know this won't happen, but if she can just hear in my voice the disappointment I was feeling.

The thing that upsets me probably the most is this pastor. He has never met Caroline, never talked to us, and got all his info from a 3rd party. If he would have called me, I would have been more than happy to meet him and introduce him to Caroline. He won't even give Caroline a chance.

I wrote my letter and sent it to him with a picture of Caroline attached. I figured he should see the face of the little, innocent child that he was depriving of fun and learning.

So now what? Well Web and I have a lot to figure out. This was a private school we were trying to get Caroline into. OKC public schools are not good. But public schools, have to accommadate children with special needs. Web and I will fight tooth and nail to give Caroline everything she deserves. I will continue to write letters to people that are not educated in OI. I wish this was just a misunderstanding, it would make us feel better. We wish they could at least give Caroline a try. But like a friend told me today on FB, they should not have the privilege to get to be a part of her growth and development. They won't be lucky enough to know Caroline.

I know tomorrow is a new day, and this won't be as hard to swallow. But today sure did suck.