Aug 31 2008
Sarah Palin and her baby Trig
This weekend has been an exciting weekend in the news since the announcement of US Republican John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin.
I have received many google alerts on Sarah Palin, but the majority of the alerts are trying to start false rumors about the Alaskan governor and her baby Trig.
Back in April Gov. Palin had Trig and he was born with Down syndrome. All the rumors are just that-rumors. And just a poor ploy for attention. The majority of the rumors are saying that Gov. Palin did not actually give birth to Trig, and instead, her teenage daughter did. This is just ridiculous and doesn’t even deserve a comment. I urge you all to not even bother making comments to the bloggers who are writing these things. It will only give them more attention and take away from the message of awareness that can be brought by Gov. Palin’s nomination.
As I stated in my previous article, I have not received enough information about either candidate to make an informed decision on whom I will vote for in this coming election. I do like that Sarah Palin could bring a great awareness to this country on Down syndrome, but I also know that that is not her main goal as Vice President and nor should it be.
I encourage each of you to take the press release from my previous article and educate your media outlets on People First Language. This is vitally important, especially since the media has already used over and over again the incorrect terms referring to Down syndrome. It truly makes me cringe when I hear someone say “the Down syndrome baby” or “suffers from Down syndrome”. The list goes on and on! This is our chance, as parents and advocates to let the world know that our children do NOT suffer AND they are People First!
5 Responses to “Sarah Palin and her baby Trig”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Not A Member? Register for Free!
“I do like that Sarah Palin could bring a great awareness to this country on Down syndrome, but I also know that that is not her main goal as Vice President and nor should it be.”
RIGHT ON, KRISTY!
Sarah Palin is nothing more than a ploy to get women’s votes from bitter Hillary supporters. She is extremely conservative and will do nothing to further the cause of women’s rights.
If the Republicans exploit her child to appeal to voters’ sympathies–which I have no doubt they’ll do–I may never forgive them.
I, too, hope the children are not being exploited. I applaud this family’s openness. Teen preganacy and a child with special needs are not problems to be ashamed of and hidden away. My only concern is that some people may interpret Gov. Palin’s return to work 3 days after giving birth as an opportunity to attack family leave. Women and parents fought long and hard to get time off to care for their children. I remember when I had to resign a job because my small daughter had pheumonia, and we had to live off my meager savings until she was well. A child with special needs often has other medical issues and parents should be allowed adequate time to care for their children without worrying that they will lose their job. Gov. Palin probably did not have to worry about this, but I am concerned about how this will be used against women.
The problem here is going to be that many people without children will see a VP with so many children including a special needs baby and assume that all women can do the same - they won’t see the team backing up the VP allowing her to do her job.
At the convention speech last night she was trying to get the votes from parents of special needs kids by telling them they’d have an ear in the White House if she gets in - I didn’t hear any mention of healthcare reforms to lighten the financial burden of those parents. Words don’t mean actions and I’m not convinced that she’s not all words.