NSFW What is your opinion on the youtube channel "Special books by Special kids"

[noname223]

I stummbled on this youtube channel a pretty long time ago. I was kind of shocked about the content. Many very disfigured children/people are shown. There is nothing wrong in that but I ask myself who is the audience for this content. In my opinion some of these videos should have parental advice. For example the person who survived fire wounds. This is how it probably looks like if you survive self-immolation. I don't want that we gawk at these people. But it should be a warning to those who want to try self-immolation.

Spoiler: Warning severe disfigurement

This young and articulate man has a gf in contrast to me. However it is a clear warning to those who consider self-immolation... I have not watched the video but read some comments. Please do not ridicule the shown people. I sort of admire the creator of these videos. He wants to help people in need by giving them attention and the feeling of belonging.
At the same I feel like his content celebrates living with disabilities which feels wrong. I am for example in favor that health insurances pay for tests of trisomy 21. In my country there is a debate about that. I think a life without a (severe) disability is in most cases better than a life with it. I am bipolar and I have a lot of mental issues. I prefer being dead.

There are videos with people with severe brain damage on his channel.. If these people cannot express themselves how should we able to assess whether they genuinely want to live? Whether they themselves want to be presented to a worldwide audience in such a vulnerable position? It feels wrong to me.

There are countless of videos with titles like "here is a happy child which was suggested to be aborted by doctors". What about all the people who fucking hate living with such conditions? Who suffer in an extreme way every single day because of the decision not to abort? Why aren't there more videos about such people? The side they are showing is very one-sided but this is totally obvious.


I ask myself how the creator behind these videos can sleep at night. He meets so many people with very tragic fates. He must be pretty strong and convinced that his work has a higher purpose.

To be honest I think would get nightmares if I watched all of his videos. He has more than 3 million subscribers how many of them are simply gawkers?

I have the feeling the philosophy of this man is very diametrical to the philosophy of this forum.

What do you think about it? Please remain friendly and polite.

 

[Sylveon]

Man, I did take a quick look through their channel; it's just heartbreaking what these little kids have to suffer through. I don't think I have anything else to add here...

 

[PetrichorBirth]

I run across his channel once in a while, first time i saw him was years ago. I think it's great to give these people a platform to express themselves to a large audience.

It's easy to think : " If you life with [insert condition here]" , the most logical course of action is to end it all.". What if someone doesn't do that? What keeps these people going?

To me it's always interesting to look at their thoughts, their situation. I remember an autistic girl on the channel who i thought was particularly cool that i'd be friends with if i could.

Vulnerable people with brain injuries and the question of consent is a tough one. I probably wouldn't support it (gawkers), but if it's someone who made an informed decision, i don't see the issue

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

All I can say is that I hope the Youtube money is either going to charities, foundations, or the families featured on the channel.

I think it's in poor taste either way though tbh. People are gawkers by definition.

 

[RosesFlourish]

I like his content and I think he has good intentions. It's meant to represent these people, their struggles, and how they/their family live with their disabilities. It's educational. There's one interview with a lady with schizophrenia. She clarified that not all schizophrenia is violent and it can be treated. She's got a kid who keeps her grounded, because she made him and therefore is always real to her.

 

[Malaria]

I like his content and I think he has good intentions. It's meant to represent these people, their struggles, and how they/their family live with their disabilities. It's educational. There's one interview with a lady with schizophrenia. She clarified that not all schizophrenia is violent and it can be treated. She's got a kid who keeps her grounded, because she made him and therefore is always real to her.

Pretty much how I feel.

 

[Throwawayacc3]

All I can say is that I hope the Youtube money is either going to charities, foundations, or the families featured on the channel.

I think it's in poor taste either way though tbh. People are gawkers by definition.

I think it depends on the individual. With autism I seem to be always problem solving and having that immediate brain activity. When I saw the thumbnail my first thought was - please there has to be some medical procedure to get that individual to at least ok/baseline condition (looks better and limited no pain). I seem to do that with humans and animals. I don't know why. I'm not the "saviour" type either - in fact I'm usually more along the lines of humans are garbage and pieces of shit.

It's very conflicting. I've dealt with charities in the UK and they are all corrupt, there for the no tax and provide such a small percentage to the subject matter they are meant to be helping (cancer research UK being one of them - knew someone who worked there and I got cancer myself so delved into it).
However constantly posting those types of videos and getting ad revenue as a "job". Where is the money going to? Just the individual who's making the content? - their living, bills, food, etc. At that point it feels more like an exploitive avenue rather than anything else. For me it would make sense that as revenue on the video would go to the person in it to help them, no? That makes logical sense to me. Same as animal videos - they showcase a sanctuary or something along those lines so provide them with the revenue made from the video.

It's a very hard one to tell without doing a profile on the individual which is impossible - are they genuine? Sociopath? Narcissistic? Intentional? We'll never know.