Broadcast News

I had the CBS Early Show on while I was getting ready for work and they were showing a human interest story about a couple who adopted a baby after being scammed by a fertility clinic. The wife happened to have cerebral palsy and, at the end of the story, the interviewer made a point to say that “Mom is never alone with the baby” and that “advocates for people with cerebral palsy say that there is nothing about her disability that prevents her from being a mother.”
Hey, CBS, condescending much? The very fact that those statements were uttered implies that the audience should feel a little nervous about the whole situation. I’ve read about a number of situations where where parents with disabilities are assumed to be incompetent and/or neglectful and it’s maddening. Last time I checked, there wasn’t a job description for parents that mentioned physical ability as a prerequisite. Witness all the crappy able-bodied parents in the world. I think I’ll e-mail a brief admonishment to CBS for having such bone-headed reporters. But I got a small measure of comfort when Michael Moore came on as the next guest and lambasted the network for being completely dropping the ball in its reporting during the lead-up to the Iraqi invasion.