Saturday, November 19, 2005

A Cure for What Ails You

I’ve stumbled across a quite ingenious cure that, in theory, should fix everything from warts to cancer. Now, people have been using this cure for centuries, some with more success than others, but work or not there it seems there is always someone willing (or possibly desperate enough) to give it a try.

Here’s how it works:

Let’s suppose that a person believes he may have a fever. (I decided to start off with something fairly non-life threatening, but rest assured, this works for anything) What this person does to combat this unwanted condition is simply not take his temperature. Call it ignorance…call it denial…call it whatever you want, but the fact remains that if this person doesn’t know that he has a fever, then “POOF” like magic, he does NOT have a fever.

I know just what your thinking. “Sure, this may work for things like a simple fever, or the common cold, but how does it stand up to more serious illnesses?”

Well, I’m glad you asked that question! You see, up until recently I wouldn’t have put much stock in the “If you don’t know you have it – then you DON’T have it,” theory of medicine, but things have happened that have made a believer out of me.

I see it every day, parents who, for one reason or another, refuse to have a child tested for an ailment or condition of some kind that would be hard to deal with, if in fact the child was suffering from this ailment or condition. And mind you, these aren’t bad parents. These are usually intelligent, loving parents who want nothing less than the best for their child, but they can’t get past the fear of having a child who is labeled.

I don’t have a child with special needs, so I can’t say how I would react if I were put in this situation. Even as I’m writing this, I can see how attractive an option like "what you don't know can't hurt you," would be. I only know that you cannot look the other way forever, sooner or later something has to give.

So next time you start getting sick, just look the other way and you’ll be just fine.

Or will you?

2 comments:

Hope said...

You need to shout this one from the rooftops. With a son who has Asperger's I can relate. Even though he was homeschooled and I knew there was something 'different' about him....first thought it was Tourette's then Aspergers when he was older I refused to get it confirmed because I didn't want a label on him. This past summer when he was 19 and about to leave home I got a book out of the library that chronicled the life of a teen with Asperger's. We both read it and he told me that it described him to a "t". It gave us a new language to speak. In retrospect the label could have been a healing balm for him as he navigated through his earlier days. It certainly would have given us as a family, an understanding we didn't have. Too bad hindsight is 20/20. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

Hope: Is the book you read called [i]The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time[/i] by any chance?

I just stumbled upon your blog tonight, and your entries are all very very interesting. Awesome blog!!