An instance I can recall happening when a child pointed out
something they noticed different was with my little cousin. We were out
shopping in the mall and I can remember seeing a shorter than average person
coming towards us. I was hoping my little cousin would not comment or even notice
the difference, however, she did. As the lady was approaching she stated, “Why
is that lady so little?” I really was in a moment of shock. I just was like “Shhh,
Be Quiet!”
The
message I communicated to my cousin was that this person is different. Not only
that, but that we should now respond to what we see. Now when she sees another
person that is of shorter than average height, she may think that something has
to be wrong with that person. Professionally, it would have been best not to
just “shhh” my cousin, but perhaps explain to her that there are many different
people in the world. People come in many shapes, colors, and sizes. Later, I
may even share some books about differences in people.
Tierra,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience with children noticing differences in others. I commend you for stating that you realize now you should have responded in a different way instead of telling your cousin to "shh". I think how you originally responded is the likely answer when in public and a child points out and asks questions about someone that is noticeably different from them. I feel that many parents may be just making sure their child does not offend the person they are speaking about and feel they are better off not saying anything. But the realization is is that the children should be curious and become knowledgeable about the disabilities in others and be educated on the proper and polite way to ask questions and get the accurate information they should be getting. Like you stated, books are a great way to introduce differences in others. Thanks for your post!
Kristen
Tierra,
ReplyDeleteLike Kristen said, "shh" is the most common response. People believe that shushing is better than making the difference evident, hoping that this way the other person will feel less uncomfortable, but this is not the case. The other problem is that the conversation stays there, there isn't a further explanation of what happened and diversity becomes a taboo subject.