His ability to cope afterwards improved because it made him more confident to stand up for himself. He was more happy and carefree than he was before.
My conclusion about Fabrice is that I found him very brave around the time when he was slightly bullied, he found courage to come over his disability and the disadvantages that followed it.
Disability provision in my area:
I live in South Norwood and in this area, there are plenty of help for disabled people. For example, there is sufficient transport, everyday, there is a small blue bus which takes disabled people of the area to disabled schools or work. And every afternoon, they get dropped off at special points where somebody picks them up and take them home.
Another place, where they get special treatment is our local church. During masses, they have to go right at the front where there is more space at the sides, also during the offertory, the priest comes over after a special request to give the bread and wine to the disabled.
Also, in shopping centres, there are large stores, for example Alders and Debenhams which contain wheelchair ramps which are very practical and efficient because other people can use them too, like mothers with pushchairs.
In our area, there are many disabled so the local people have gotten used to them and are friendly with them, such as shop-keepers or even in post-offices, bus drivers etc…all these people have gotten to know the disabled personally and are able to communicate with them effortlessly and with gentleness and care.
My conclusion on sufficient help in my area is that it's enough for the disabled in our community to feel secure and happy to go around without worrying about the others and their behaviour.
Wheelchair pupil at Virgo Fidelis:
If a girl was to enrol at our school, I think she would find it partly difficult. Half of it would not be so bad for her because the pupils would treat her in no different way, but they would find it extremely difficult to manage.
The other half would be sort of bad, due to the fact that she wouldn't be able to move around easily. It's bad enough for us to move from classes as the corridors are not wide enough but for the wheelchair pupil, she would struggle everyday to get enough space. Most of the classrooms are packed and it's unlikely that she would be comfortable knowing that she is getting special attention because of her disability, whereas if she was in a disabled children's school she would find it easy to get along with other children in her situation. They would emphasise with each other and they understand what they're all going through.
The classwork and the teachers would be no problem because she would get loads of help anyway like the rest of us but around rush hours such as lunchtime she would find it extremely uncomfortable with the space provided.
Maybe she could try a school with more help for disabled such as Trinity High School which has wide corridors and special help for wheelchair pupils. I think she would find it easier over there where she could move around freely.
Christian response to Disability:
Christians support disabled people and have done many things to help make them feel comfortable within their own community.
Christians believe that mentally handicapped people have as much to give and share just like normal "people".
"In a report on mentally handicapped people it is shown that they have much to give, they share our common humanity and like us all are children of God." This extract was taken from The Local Church and Mentally Handicapped People".
I personally agree with it because no matter your race, colour, or gender, we are all children in God's eyes. He loves us all equally.
The Founder of "L'Arche", Jean Varnier, once quoted "Mentally handicapped people can be an inspiration to others, they can help us understand ourselves and the often inhuman values of the rest of the world.
This is true because learning how to cope with different situations helps us humans to develop our characters in different ways, for example, this case of disabled people, if you have to live with someone with a mental disability, you would learn to live with it and help the person as much as you could.
This would improve your personality and make you more aware and you'd show more appreciation and gratefulness for what you're benefiting and realise the pain that some people go through.
" It has been shown that mentally handicapped people can make their marriage promises as sincerely and with as much understanding as other people…" This was taken from " The Local Church and Mentally Handicapped People "
This suggests that like normal people, the disabled can make decisions for themselves and can have responsibilities towards certain things. It shows that disabled people can lead "a normal life" in the presence and comfort of others within their community.
