Australian primary school blasted for 'Disabled Dress-Up Day'

[Honey]

An Australian primary school has infuriated parents and disability advocates by asking students to come to school dressed as a disabled person as part of a fundraiser.
In a newsletter sent home to parents on Wednesday, Ramco Primary School in South Australia advised it would hold a "disability day" and fundraiser on Friday, May 29, with prizes for the "best students dressed as a person with a disability."
The aim of the dress-up is to raise money for a clinic in Bangladesh that repairs cleft lips and palates in children, The Advertiser reports.

Its newsletter stated: "There will be prizes for the best students dressed as a person with a disability. Get your thinking hats on and see what disability you can represent!"
The well-meaning idea has missed the mark, with one disbelieving parent saying she had spoken to other parents who were also bemused by the concept, wondering how they were meant to dress their child.
Principal Barrey Niven said the idea had been to raise student awareness of what it is like to cope daily with a disability but the idea had not been conveyed well in the newsletter.
The intention of the fundraiser, devised by the school's Student Representative Council, had been for students to come in with a bandaged arm or leg, he explained. He said a new letter would be sent to parents explaining the idea more clearly.
Paralympic gold medallist Matt Cowdrey said while he was sure the school's intentions were good, he didn't "think this is the best way to raise attention."
"People with disabilities want to be treated and should be treated no different to anybody else in the community," he said.
Disability advocate David Holst said the dress-up day was in poor taste and there were better ways to create awareness.
"You can understand it's with good intent, but it is trivializing some serious issues and is the worst in poor judgement and poor taste," he said.

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[DitaPage*]

Good grief!! That's ridiculous. What the hell would the costumes be? The principal telling the students to put their 'thinking caps on'. My god!

[Chimera]

How freaking sensitive of them, lol.

But really, the only outfit appropriate is the "cap in hand" begging costume, as "cap in hand" is the origin of the word, "handicapped".

[DitaPage*]

LOL, I can't believe it. Can you imagine being a student there? I'd be like 'Are you guys for real?!'

[Grimmlok]

i would be the biggest retard, i swear..

[Chilly Willy]

How sensitive. But funny.

[sputnik]

i'd have dressed up like corky.

[Sojiita]

How do you "Dress like a person with a disability"? For Gawd's sake, they must be borderline retarded themselves. Maybe they should have their arms strapped behind their backs for a week and left to fend for themselves to find out what it is like to be disabled. Idiots.

[Mel1973]

i would be the biggest retard, i swear..

OMG!! I thought I was the only one thinking: I bet the outfit's involve a helmet, a harness and a bib!

[Sweetie]

What a bunch of idiots...
and to think these people teach small children.

[western]

That has to be the stupidest idea ever. They could just as easily had a sports day with the rules & equipment used by the disabled. It would have shown kids in a fun way that the disabled are just as capable in different ways without making it glaringly obvious. The organizers are the ones that were missing their thinking caps!

i would be the biggest retard, i swear..

[DitaPage*]

I'd go dressed as the principal.