Judy Le Van Fram wrote:
"It's as if all children who cannot walk  by the appropriate developmental time
frame would be given wheelchairs, because walking is too much trouble to
achieve, and the wheelchair will get them around "just fine". 

Amen, Sister!  I've been thinking about this concept for awhile now.  When we're walking along in a grocery store, or a mall, everyone is moving along on their legs.  When we see someone in a wheelchair, we don't think, "Dude, nice wheelchair!"

We think, "Oh, he can't walk!"  The next thought is, "I wonder why not?"

Wouldn't it be ludicrous if, in our modern world, we told children they didn't need to learn to walk because our stroller is "perfectly fine" and in fact, fancier than their own legs and even faster and more efficient.

Wouldn't it be ridiculous if we helped people buy wheelchairs instead of spending time and money on physical therapists who could help us walk after a broken leg, or a stroke?

Bottles should be wheelchairs.  When we see one in the hospital after birth, we should wonder why mom can't breastfeed.  We should see it as tragic.  When most of our mothers give birth stating their intention to breastfeed, we should see the bottle as a sign that we offered a wheelchair when we should have tried harder to get mom and baby to stand on their own.

I'm mixing metaphors, but I'm still on my first cup of coffee.

Jeanne Mitchell, RN IBCLC
Austin, TX


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