by J J kearns

Created on: March 13, 2009

It is very important to talk to your children about people with disabilities This way they are not afraid of them and they understand what the person with the disability is going through. I am the mother of two boys and unfortunately I had to talk to my children about disabilities while they were still very young. My husband has a brother that is wheel chair bound. He has down syndrome and muscular dystrophy. Explaining to my children why their uncle was in a wheelchair was not easy but it is something that had to be done.

I first asked my children if they had any questions about disabilities or their uncle. They of course wondered why he was always sitting in that chair and why he never got up to run around with them. I explained to them that their uncle's muscles do not work as well as their's do, so he can't walk. They were obviously saddened by this. So I went on to say that their uncles wheelchair is actually a good thing. He may not be able to get up and run around with them but his chair allows him to chase after them, which he loves to do and it brings a huge smile to all three of the boy's faces.

The next thing I did was to take some time to explain to our boys that their uncle is no different then they are. Sure he is in a wheelchair but he is still a kid. That he has the same feelings that they do and even enjoys doing some of the same things that they do, like video games. This is important. It shows the child that disabled people are people too and should be treated the way that they would treat anyone else. This helped to teach my children that they should have respect for people with disabilities. It is important that they learn that it is not appropriate to refer to a disabled person as stupid, retarded or to make comments like; he walks funny. This has to be explained to a child, making sure to let them know that those kind of words can be very hurtful. That not matter what people with disabilities are not inferior to them in any way.

Now, of course when talking to children about disabilities you are faced with many questions. Like "can that happen to me." or "why doesn't he walk or talk like us" and many others. Each child will have different question. Do not avoid these questions. Try to answer them all directly, honestly and reassure them that a disability is not a disease that you can catch. If they ask a question that you do not know the answer to do not turn them away. Use it as a learning opportunity. Do on the Internet and try to find an answer to their question.

One final thing. Always remember that the conversation about disabilities should always remain open. Even after you talked about it make sure to let your child know that if they have any more questions they can always can come to you. Trust me they will always have more questions and those questions will change month to month, year to year. This is still a topic of conversation that is remains open in our home. My sons still come to us with more questions every few months or so. So just make sure that your conversation about disabilities remains an open one.

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