Yesterday, in another class, we learned about how Susan Boyle (the now-famous singer from Britain’s Got Talent) had learning disabilities as a child and how she was bullied in school as a result.
I started wondering what challenges children with physical disabilities may have had when medical science was largely uncertain about conditions such as cerebral palsy, deformities etc.
After doing a little reading, I found some information on the belief of ‘Changelings’. Apparently, children who had deformities were believed to actually be the children of elves or trolls who had been secretly left in the place of a human child!
I am not sure if this is true or not, but I can believe that such children had a hard time growing up. After all, in many places of the world today, children with learning disabilities are labeled as ‘stupid’, ‘dull’, ‘naughty’ and we forget that they may have some very special qualities.
Here are some links related to this blog entry:
- Susan Boyle sings on Britain’s Got Talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related
- Susan Boyle describes her learning disabilities: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/04/12/brtain-s-got-talent-singing-sensation-susan-sang-to-escape-the-bullies-115875-21272894/
- Wikipedia entry on Changelings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling#Changelings_in_the_modern_world
