Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!wtm
From: stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Should I try to teach?
Message-ID: <10115@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 13 Feb 90 05:01:59 GMT
References: <10009@bunker.UUCP>
Sender: news@bunker.UUCP
Reply-To: stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender)
Distribution: misc
Organization: University of Oregon Chemistry Stores
Lines: 28
Approved: wtm@bunker.UUCP

Index Number: 6706

>OK, I have a q for the net.gurus.  I'm thinking of trying teaching
>(My original career choice was to be a high school physics teacher),
>but one of my docters told me that children were really bothered by
>a handicap.   So it'd be a mistake to try to be a handicapped teacher.
>But I've heard from other sources that kids can be very protective,
>in such cases! So what are your opinions?

I have never met a child who was particularly bothered by
disability, but I've met lots of adults who were.  Perhaps your
doctor mistakes curiosity for disturbedness.  Nearly every child
I have ever met is curious about my wheelchair, and will ask
questions (that I am happy to answer) unless forcibly restrained
by their parents (which unfortunately happens all too often).

It is not a mistake to try to be a handicapped teacher, just as
it is not a mistake to pursue any career of your choice.  In this
case your disability is irrelevant to the career you are trying
to pursue, so you should not abandon your original goal of
becoming a high school physics teacher simply because you are
disabled.

--
Steve VanDevender 	stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu
"Bipedalism--an unrecognized disease affecting over 99% of the population.
Symptoms include lack of traffic sense, slow rate of travel, and the
classic, easily recognized behavior known as walking."