Last post Sun, May 04 2008 9:26 PM by nancycccslp. 3 replies.
Nancy,
First of all, thanks for doing this! I'm glad to see so many informative responses and positive interactions going on already on the first day of this expert forum week! I have a question of my own.
I have a seven-year-old niece who just moved to Colorado from Missouri. I don't think education about diversity was emphasized in her old school- they didn't even have a LIBRARY at her elementary school in Missouri. No books at all that the kids could take home! Anyway, she is a sweet kid, but sometimes seems a little clueless about people's differences. For example, she once accidentally was allowed to watch an episode of The Boondocks, and was talking excitedly the next day about how she saw a TV show "All about black people and guns!" Her mother talked to her about race and about how some cartoons are not really meant for kids, and all was well.
Now she has a classmate with a developmental disability, and I have caught her a couple of times calling him "the slow kid" and giggling. I know she is repeating something she has heard from insensitive classmates, and I've told her that everyone learns at his or her own pace and that it's not nice to laugh at others for learning differently, but what other phrases can I use to explain developmental disability to her? She understood and agreed that it's not nice to make fun because someone learns at a different pace, but I don't think she has grasped the concept that her classmate has a disability and that doesn't mean he IS his disability yet. Is there a way to encourage her to get to know this classmate as a person who happens to be developmentally disabled?
There are lots of children's books about people who are different. Talk about being different in general seems to help alot. Like I have brown hair and blue eyes but you have blonde hair and green eyes we are different but that doesn't make me better than you. Some people learn slower than others but that doesn't make them a bad person. Everyone is different. I'd even bring in that some people can walk with their feet but other people walk with their wheels. It's really not a big deal if you don't make it a big deal. Don't make it focus on disabilities make if focus on being nice to everyone no matter what.
Beth
Sorry; I'm still learning my new Mac and it's giving me a run for my money; here's the THIRD time I'm responding to this post!!!!!!
There is a wonderful Little Critter book called "A Very Special Critter." A new kid comes to Little Critter's school and he uses a wheelchair. At first all the kids are intimidated; then they think the wheelchair is cool, then they kind of don't think about it at all. There are things the new kid can't do, and things he can. And not all of them have to do with his disabilities.........he's not really very good at math; sometimes he needs help reaching things, sometimes Little Critter needs help, sometimes the interactions have NOTHING to do with the disability. This book casually mentions differences, but also similarities. We are all more similar than different. I use this book quite a bit with my kids at work. I really like it; check it out on Ebay. Maybe a copy for your niece?
