War Veterans with Disabilities and Their Families Coping with Change

http://www.sesamestreetfamilyconnections.org/grownups/changes/

Sesame Street provides information for chidren and adults in a comprehendable media. Queen Latifa and John Mayer appeared on an episode detailing the changes families, children in particular, needed to make to accommodate and understand why a spouse, mother, and/or father came back from war different than when they deployed.

Some of the "changes" mentioned included PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and amputations. Elmo and Queen Latifa discussed the questions that each child may ask about why this happened and how life will change, but can still remain the same to Rosita (another Sesame Street character). Rosita's father returned from the war needing a wheelchair. Rosita didn't know how to react, so Elmo and Queen Latifa invited other military veterans and their families to Sesame Street and each explained their story and how they've coped with the change.

This episode allowed me to realize three things. The first deals with communication. I don't recall any of the individuals stating disability instead stated their personal obstacles, experiences, conditions, and perspectives. As I metioned during my mini lesson today, there are universal ways to address a disability without making it the object of the story or document.

Secondly, I remembered my desire to become an engineer. I know I say this a lot, but I wanted to become a biomedical engineer because I wanted to design prosthesis. After I had my ACL reconstruction and went through nearly a year of physical therapy, I developed an interest in physical therapy and prosthetics. I knew there was a market because of the amount of disabled war veterans returning from duty.

The last realization I had is that I may actually suffer from a minor case of PTSD. One misconception of PTSD is that it is only found in war veterans, but any civilian can experience PTSD. My possible PTSD stems from the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007. I've never felt it overwhelm me or cause me to need to seek professional help, but at times I think it would be in my best interest. I've never been diagnosed, so I don't consider myself to have a disablity. Honestly, even if I did seek help, and I was told "Yes, you have PTSD." I still don't think I would consider myself disabled. I can't form the words why; it may just be my personality.

This Sesame Street episode made sure to incorporate that not all disabilites, specifically caused by war, are physical disabilites. This concept can be hard for any person, young or old, to understand. If a disability isn't seen, such as PTSD or autism, how do you know the person has a disability? Regardless of physical, emotional, or mental disablities, it is important to be concious and sensitive to each person because you don't know what the person sitting next to you is going through.