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Last week (14-16 March), Lynn Johnston creator of the enormously popular comic strip, For Better or For Worse ®, raised some eyebrows with her reprisal of a character she introduced on 23 October 2004—Shannon Lake, a 15-year-old with an intellectual disability (Shannon has appeared at regular intervals since 2004). The trio of comic strips tackled the “R” word, an anathema to all people with intellectual disabilities. Johnston joins a host of organizations, including Special Olympics and mainstream citizens who would like to rid the world of the pejorative “retard.”
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FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE © 2007 Lynn Johnston Productions. Dist. By Universal Press Syndicate. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. |
Johnston's treatment of the subject was striking for both her courage to discuss the derogatory word, still widely used, and her sensitivity and openness to the topic of intellectual disability–a rarity for the mainstream media.
Intellectual disability is something Johnston has an acute awareness of. Her niece, Stephanie Haskins, a Special Olympics Canada athlete, is the real-life person that the character “Shannon” is modeled after.
Special Olympics Spirit magazine featured an article about Lynn Johnston, Stephanie Haskins and the For Better or For Worse ® comic strip that introduced “Shannon,” entitled “Drawing from Experience.” (Refer to Q-3, 2005)
To read the For Better or For Worse comic strips that appeared from 14-16 March, check Lynn Johnston's Web site at http://www.fborfw.com/ |
