My Special Needs Brother Isn’t A Budget Constraint. He’s A Blessing. 

I call my youngest sibling with special needs “little brother,” but if Michael Hugo, the defamed Democratic chairman of the Framingham City Council in Massachusetts were in my shoes, he’d probably just call him a “budget constraint” — at least that’s what his recent comments imply.

At an earlier Framingham City Council meeting, Hugo voiced complaints about the cost burden of special education for children with disabilities who were not aborted. His comments were met with backlash from both sides of the political aisle and families with special needs children. Hugo issued a public apology 10 days after the event, attempting to backpedal his ableist stance by apologizing and calling his comments “offensive and hurtful.”