Tolerance: Not Just a Black and White Issue
We often hear long discussions on how as Americans we must be tolerant of others who are different. Public schools, government institutions, colleges, newspapers and many businesses spend small fortunes in tolerance training. I thought about this today as we sat in a fast food restaraunt with our youngest son with his newest, loud, verbal tick that sounds like a pre-historic cat trying to cough-up a furball. At what point do we go too far with our expectations of tolerance? Is it right for us to expect others to just accept our son's disruptive behavior in public? Should we become incensed when people glare in our direction because of his constantly annoying sounds while they attempt to enjoy their lunch breaks? The advocates of political correctness would insist that everyone else pretend that our son was perfectly normal. They would campaign to get everyone in the country to treat children with autism in the same manner that nuerologically typical children are treated in public....