Friday, March 25, 2005
A Bumblebee Cannot Fly
I have often heard it said that bumblebees cannot fly. And yet nobody has informed the bumblebees of this fact, and they continue to do so.
"...if you apply the theory of fixed wing aircraft to insects, you do calculate that they can't fly. You have to use something different."
I stole this quote from the good folks over at How Stuff Works. I didn't read the whole site, because I'm a great big slacker, and I just wanted to get a quote that would tie in with this article. They can sue me if they feel like it.
If you apply one particular theory, you can prove something to be true. To obtain a different result, you have to use something different.
And so it goes these days over at Darn Tootin'. I don't know how many of you follow my sidebar links, however the Rummel-Hudson family has had its share of tribulations over the last few years. They have a beautiful daughter, Schuyler, who has CBPS. They have links explaining this on their site, so I won't put any here, mostly because of the previously-mentioned element of pervasive slackage.
In short, their daughter has a malformation of her brain that affects her speech centres and, at the age of five, still does not speak. It is unlikely that she will do so.
Some folks think she's retarded. Some folks think that she's no such thing, and is more likely a bumblebee.
There are a number of devices that would enable her to communicate ... one is about two or three thousand dollars. From what I understand, this is the one that is favoured by the school board and if purchased by them may possibly have to be shared with other students. It would enable her to communicate at a two-to-three year old level. She is five and would outgrow this in minutes. The other devices that would enable her to communicate with complexity are ones that the school board and their insurance will not fund. And so her parents are trying to raise funds to purchase a tool to make it possible for their child to meet her potential and develop beyond the "fall down go boom owwie" level.
Fuck the school board. She deserves the best help she can possibly get. The only problem with that is that her parents can't find $7k in their budget.
So ... if you have a dollar or five sitting about doing nothing, please hop over to their site and follow the links to the fundraising page and send them a little.
Schuyler deserves a chance to fly.
# posted by Rabbitch @ 1:40 AM 
