School is beginning after a nice relaxing summer break. I hope that you had fun with your children, and they are prepared to go back to school. As you sit down to discuss manners, school etiquette and homework policies, please add to your conversations disability awareness and about being open to friendships with children who have disabilities. I am asking you to do this as a special education teacher and as someone who has cerebral palsy.
Parents often prepare their child on how to handle strangers, using their manners, what to do if being bullied and how to be a good student. However, children are rarely taught how to be open to disabilities and that it’s okay to become friends with someone no matter who they are or disability that they might have.
You might believe that your child would never leave another child out or tease someone because they’re different. I’m here to tell you that your child isn’t bad for doing these things, but they just are not prepared to know how to deal with peer pressure to make fun of someone different. They might feel that you would even think less of them to be friends with someone who is different. Communication is so important.
Children learn by example, and they are always observing what their parents are doing. Too often as I am out and about parents yell at their child for being too close to my wheelchair or acting as if I’m going to run over their child. No one in a wheelchair has purposely set out to run down children. These behaviors teach the children that people who use wheelchairs are to be alone and avoided. Basically, it says that people who use wheelchairs are scary. Please stop doing this. If your child is in our way, we will go around them like anyone else. Let them talk and ask people with disabilities questions. Show them that it’s completely normal to interact with someone who has a disability.
Discussing disabilities is crucial with your children. Inclusion is more and more prevalent in classrooms so the chances that your children will encounter someone who has a disability is high. They might have a teacher with disability as well. They need to know that people who have disabilities are not special. They are the same as anyone else, but they have a disability that they adapt to. You need to tell them that it’s okay to be friends with them but never okay to tease, bully, or leave them out of a group.
When having a birthday party, please do not forget to invite everyone even the child who has w disability. My feelings were hurt often when my peers would happily talk about birthday parties that they had attended over the weekend. Parties that I never got invited to. This hurt my feelings very much because I knew it was because I had cerebral palsy.
I cannot stress enough how important communication is with your children about accepting differences. It is never okay to tease someone for things that they have no control over such as walking, speech, moving and even learning. It is not okay to be against someone because they’re different. If others are teasing someone, they don’t need to do it also. Stick up for the ones they’re teasing. Treat others with respect and treat others how you want to be treated.
Thank you for reading, and I wish every student a happy school year.
originally published by Jessica Grono at Cerebral Palsy News Today
