Cognitive Impairment

I've been thinking about the issue of "cognitive impairment".  First let me say a word about terminology.  It used to be that we would refer to a person who was impaired from birth or early childhood as being "mentally retarded".  The phrase was then used by bullies to taunt other children or even adults.  It wasn't the words that were the problem but the bullies and whatever terminology we use I feel certain that bullies will use it against those they decide to pick on.

Now the politically correct term seems to be "intellectual disability" but I like cognitive impairment.  No words, though, can adequately describe a complex and varied issue.  Our grandson's ability to learn new skills was impaired from birth, his grandfather's ability to remember things and retain old skills lessens with age.  Both are cognitively impaired.

What I want to discuss is what I have learned from watching my grandson for almost 19 years.  His skill set is much like that of a toddler. He has no language, not speech or sign.  There was a little progress in having him use pictures to indicate what he wanted but he really wasn't interested.  He developed his own method of limited communication.  If he wants to eat he pounds on the microwave, if he wants something to drink he finds one of his sippy cups and brings it to a caregiver.
He cannot, however, tell you what hurts and that is a big problem.

He doesn't use the toilet, can't dress himself or bathe himself.  His food is pureed to keep him from choking since he doesn't chew adequately.  Since the food is pureed and somewhat sticky he can feed himself but with the finesse of a toddler, a very messy proposition that caregivers often prefer to avoid by feeding him.

But, and it is a big but, he is not a toddler he is almost 19 and has almost 19 years of experience.  He has learned the routines and cooperates when dressing handing diapers, clothes and shoes usually in the proper sequence.  He knows that different caregivers handle bathing differently and anticipates the steps of each.  He knows that the sound of blender means that food is being prepared and can get very impatient.

He gets bored.  He has mastered some limited toddler games and now has little interest in them.  The same is true with toys and we are always searching for new things that will engage him. Television once entertained him but he seems to have lost interest in the programs he once enjoyed.  He will keep handing the remote to a caregiver as if to say "find something else".  He will invent little games like insisting that someone hold his sippy cup, picking it up and handing it back if it is put down.  He might entice someone to open a door so that he can close it.  These games will keep him occupied until his chosen foil gives up.  I don't think he is ever first to end the game.

So what I have learned is that even someone as gravely impaired as our grandson is not a cipher.  He struggles as best as he is able to understand his environment and the people around him.  He is not static but changes in subtle ways, he is sometimes frustrated, sometimes obstinate but always his own person.  And the bookend to this, his grandfather, struggles to retain what he has learned over 83 years and gets frustrated at trying to remember how to do things that once came easily.  Often he can retrieve the information, sometimes he can't but he, too, keeps trying. I am learning a lot from the two of them.

Jesus or Trump

   Some people comb through the bible attempting to find support for their opposition to homosexuality and abortion.  They search for hidden meanings, insist that they know the mind of Jesus, they don't.

   Jesus was very clear as to what he believed to be important, there was no beating around the bush.

   What did he think about those who would use other people's faith for their own gain?  Just look at what he did to the money changers in the temple. (Matthew 21:12-13)

   What did he think of those who made a big deal of their faith so as to look good, he saw thorough the hypocrisy and condemned it. (Matthew 6:1-4)

   He rebuked those who would keep little children from him, should those who claim to follow him do less (Matthew 19:14)

  When it comes to people we fear, see as a dangerous other, look to the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).  Jews at the time saw the Samaritans as dangerous, the other, Jesus saw them as good neighbors often better people than the pillars of the community.

  What did Jesus say was our duty to the stranger among us, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty?  You know the answer but if you have forgotten look again at Matthew 25:35-45.

 "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me."

  These teachings of Jesus seem to be the antithesis of the preaching of Trump with which many among us are enthralled.  What are we to think?  Is Trump the Antichrist?  I think not for he is a weak little man.  He may have charisma but so did Hitler and Mussolini.  In all honesty I can't see the attraction of any of these men.

  Is Trump a great prophet.  No, that would be giving him credit for wisdom he does not have.

  What Trump is is a great con artist.  He speaks against the teachings of Jesus while convincing his followers otherwise.

  In truth, one cannot follow Trump while being a follower of Jesus, one must choose.

    

Thoughts on the New Court

I have been thinking about what it would mean to have an entrenched ultraconservative majority on the Supreme Court.

I know that many of my fellow citizens are pleased with the idea that women’s reproductive rights might be abridged, many are joyful at the thought that the right to love and marry whoever one pleases will be revoked.  A supreme court that will allow the government to slam our doors in the faces of those subject to violence and oppression will be met by rejoicing by many, the right to breath clean air and drink unpolluted water so that those “persons” known as corporations can make more money will simply be ignored by those with the resources to live in a place where these things are not an issue.

Then I think are any of our rights safe from a court that is willing to take away the rights of some and I am reminded of the words of Martin Niemöller

“When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.”