[Elspode]

People with cognitive disorders may be mobile, but they labor under burdens that those with physical handicaps do not. My son is, at present, being verbally and emotionally abused by his immediate supervisor, and I'm not real sure he isn't being deprived of tip money through theft and deception because of his inability to comprehend things that you and I take for granted.

As to the issue of how someone on a limited income spends their money, let me just say this: If you haven't had to modify your entire life, probably for the rest of your life, to try and subsist on a limited income, may I humbly suggest that you probably have absolutely no realistic idea of what it is like. To suggest that Mari shouldn't complain about difficulty obtaining decent food through charitable sources if she's got an Internet connection is patently ridiculous. Life is *not* about squeezing every damn cent until you dry up and blow away, but that is by God the way our society treats the disabled.

If my son, or Mari, are expected to be even more isolated than his/her conditions cause them to be anyway, as they would be without Internet, or television, or telephone, or transportation, or pets...they'd be just about as well off dead. Life is about living, not surviving. People like Mari and Stephen are trying to do just that...live. Put on other people's shoes for a serious amount of time before you go around telling them how full of shit they are, my friends. Really.

And, just for the record, although I like Mari just fine, despite not always buying her politics or concerns, my position on this is derived strictly from my (ongoing) experience trying to see to my son's welfare, given his very limited resources. In fact, I seriously fear for his ability to survive once myself, my family, and his pretty much worthless mother - are gone.