Burdening society

Reposting a blog comment responding to another commenter on Musings of An Aspie:

I really want to question the idea that a disabled individual who needs constant atypical supports is a “tremendous strain” on “society”. The fact that society isn’t organized in a way to provide for everyone’s needs with love and love for the caregivers as well is the strain, not the individual. So while I have no problem with the prediction that having a child who needs constant monitoring would be a strain on the family, because we live in a society with messed up priorities, I don’t think you owe it to “society” to keep your potentially disabled child from existing, and I don’t think being forced to accommodate for people with atypical needs is even a bad thing for society.

What places a strain on society?
Greed. Production of nuclear missiles. Subsidizing fossil fuels and thereby destroying the biosphere quicker. Market failures, like how some people starve to death while others go on vacations in their personal jets. War. Child abuse. Murder. Sexual assault. White-collar crime. Unethical lending practices. Racism. Alcoholism. Meth. Excessive gambling. Undervaluing of education. Past genocides.

Having to adjust to take care of people whose needs aren’t met by default doesn’t put a strain on society. It heals it. I completely understand if anyone doesn’t want to be the one fighting all of society’s failures to get their kid a decent life, but I don’t for a minute agree that society is somehow hurt by reallocating resources to something that’s actually a good thing to do.