Celebrating Diversity?

I was working as a teaching assistant some years ago when the then government in all it's wisdom decided to close special schools and place most of the students in mainstream education. I was assigned one to one with a boy I'll call William who was twelve years old and had Asperger Syndrome. He was an attractive child, smart and tidy in appearance but his lack of empathy and serious nature meant he had few if any friends. My role was to try and keep him focused during lessons as his powers of concentration were limited and he was easily distracted. During one memorable English lesson, tiring of listening to the teacher, he turned to me and asked in all seriousness, "Did you ever meet Hitler, Miss"? Well, I know all grown-ups seem ancient to twelve year olds but as I wasn't born until the very end of 1951, I was a little bemused! I explained that though I didn't know him personally I had a little knowledge of who Hitler was and that after the English lesson we could have a good chat about him. This succeeded in getting William back in the present and the lesson continued. However, the leniency shown to him in regard to time-keeping, failure to submit homework etc. didn't go down too well with the other kids and William was usually ostracised or bullied in the playground. Sadly I changed jobs shortly after this so I didn't see how he got on through the rest of his time at the school. He was a personable young man and I hope that with the appropriate support his life is going in the right direction. Today I was reminded of how our behaviour is sometimes dictated by people who are labelled as "different". I volunteer for a local organisation helping to keep independent elderly people taking part in social activities. My job is to serve drinks, snacks and lunches to the clients and most of them are charming and pleasant despite suffering from various age related problems. Today, however, one of the ladies was extremely rude, not for the first time and not only to me, and when I mentioned this to the manager she explained that her problem was bipolar disorder. Does a "label" like aspergers or bipolar mean that we should turn a blind eye to inappropriate or unpleasant behaviour? The problem is that those not openly suffering from a disability are made to feel awkward when trying to accommodate those who are and whilst bending over backwards to treat all comers equally the resulting favouritism is weighted on the side of the disabled. Dare I ask if some people could be actively taking advantage of this? The jury's still out on that one I fear. First published October 2015