Protecting my sons from cruelty – Family – NewsObserver.com

It wasn’t her words that shook me so much as the way she said them. As if having a mental disability made him less than human.

One evening in October, I took my 8-year old, Theo, to the SuperTarget in Apex. He had been a good boy that day, and I figured he would enjoy an outing. We got our groceries and then headed to the toy section on the other side of the store.

When we hit the main aisle in the back of the store, Theo made a sudden turn away from me so he could run his hand along the shelves, which he sometimes likes to do. This move landed him in the middle of a mother and three children. The mother was talking to one of her children, and Theo squeezed right between them.

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