Saturday, October 4, 2014

For "Special Needs" Parents

Before watching this scene from the first season of “Game Of Thrones”, be warned … violence and blood ahead.


While thinking about my two Disability.TV conversations with Alice Wong, on disabled characters in "Game Of Thrones," I remembered a scene we forgot to talk about.

Bran Stark, who has recently been paralyzed by being pushed out of a tall tower, is the target of an assassin sneaking into his room. His mother, Catelyn Stark fights the man off just long enough for Bran’s pet direwolf to leap to his defense in spectacular fashion.


The scene isn’t about disability, but the emotions in it make me think of all the parents out there with disabled kids. I sometimes have issues with how some parents talk about disability issues, but I never doubt for a moment their dedication and fierceness … not unlike Catelyn, and the direwolf.