Ouch. Poor kid, I hope the surgery goes okay. And fuck the Metro for going 'Hey, a funny lookin' cripple. Let's put a story in the 'Weird' section so people can stare at him."
I don't get it. Do they usually put insulting stuff there? Cause, to be fair, that is kind of weird. In fact, since it's record breaking, you could probably say that it's unique, which is even less common, certainly. To address the other issue, polydactylism is rarely painful, so with the exception of how awkward it is, it probably hasn't been too terrible before this point. I don't know much about how the surgery goes, but I imagine it won't be too pleasant, but if the end result is that he can use store bought shoes and gloves, I suspect he'll be happy.
As for lumping the kid in with fish ... I don't know. Seems weird to me. But you're not wrong that the word carries a lot of baggage with it. Still ... it's not normal. You can't just put it in the "normal news" section and pretend everyone has 31 toes. they could maybe have put it in Lifestyle, but that really looks like it's mostly an excuse for celebrity gossip.
I suspect you might change your mind if you needed to wear gloves or wanted to put on a pair of shoes. but in your defense, they do look pretty sweet. but it's easy for us to say that, having the standard number of toes and all.
The article didn't mention anywhere that he's disabled. If he can walk and hold a pencil, then where's the disability? He has extra fingers and toes. That's really more of a superpower.
My uncle was born with an extra thumb. His parents (my grandparents) had it removed without telling him, when he was about this boy's age. He was FURIOUS. He loved having an extra thumb; it made him feel special.
I realize that's not the case with this kid: he gets called "monster" at school, so he probably just wants to be normal. But calling polydactylity a disability is patronizing and disrespectful, both to those with extra digits, and those with actual disabilities.
Mary Queen of Scots did alright that many fingers, seperate the conjoined ones, then have his legs amputated from just below the knees and cheetah-legs fitted and he's good to go imo.
Except many people with polydactyly don't have use of their extra digits and it could be actually quite difficult to perform simple tasks we take for granted. Looking at his hands, I'd guess using eating utensils would be challenging, especially chopsticks.
I wish society would let him keep them, especially the feet (I'm not sure how well his hands work). Those feet look far less deformed to me than five toed adult feet who've been shoved into shoes for years. None of his toes are warped or anything and it's hard to tell which toes to keep.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 04:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 04:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 04:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 05:25 pm (UTC)I don't know enough to accurately comment on the outcome of the surgery. At least the media circus might help with the expenses.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 05:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 06:20 pm (UTC)As for lumping the kid in with fish ... I don't know. Seems weird to me. But you're not wrong that the word carries a lot of baggage with it. Still ... it's not normal. You can't just put it in the "normal news" section and pretend everyone has 31 toes. they could maybe have put it in Lifestyle, but that really looks like it's mostly an excuse for celebrity gossip.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 06:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 08:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 11:07 pm (UTC)He has extra fingers and toes. That's really more of a superpower.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-10 11:13 pm (UTC)I realize that's not the case with this kid: he gets called "monster" at school, so he probably just wants to be normal. But calling polydactylity a disability is patronizing and disrespectful, both to those with extra digits, and those with actual disabilities.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-11 01:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-11 01:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-11 05:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-13 11:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-17 02:50 am (UTC)