Explaining Disabilities to Kids

[drunkpeggy]

Help me out ladies.

We're having Sophia's birthday party on Saturday. We have a friend and his son coming. His son is 11 but has cerebral palsy so he's in a wheelchair and doesn't speak. We also will have several 4, 5, 6, and 7 years old in attendance. I can guarantee they'll ask questions...especially my cousin's son who has no filter.

I don't want to say this little boy is sick because he's not really but all I can come up with is "this is the way he was born" but I'm sure that will lead to a follow up "why?".

Any suggestions on how to address the kids questions without making our friend and his son feel out of place?

[brandienee]

Can you call your friend and ask him how he talks to other kids to help them understand? I am sure he has had to deal with these questions all of the time... especially if he puts his son through public school.

I wouldn't know how to approach it either.

[prettyinpink]

Jun 27, 2012 8:55:43 GMT -5 brandienee said:

Can you call your friend and ask him how he talks to other kids to help them understand? I am sure he has had to deal with these questions all of the time... especially if he puts his son through public school.

I wouldn't know how to approach it either.

I think this is the best approach. Especially because you have such a huge age difference that your dealing you.

I know my friend who has a 6 year old with a huge hemangoma(sp?) on her eye has always just told people that Ali was born that way and it makes her special.

[drunkpeggy]

I'll see if Tim can get a hold of him before Saturday.

I'm sure our friend has had to field these kinds of questions a lot I just want to be prepared as well.

[kcd0531]

You've gotten perfect advice; ask the parents directly how they field children's natural curiosity. I would normally say let the kid handle it; but you said he cannot talk so that pretty much rules that out.

[JakJak]

My son was born with a birth defect that is very obvious, so we get questions from little kids all the time. Like others said, I would definitely talk to the parents first about what they are comfortable with, but I always say something along the lines of "That's just the way he was born" and usually most kids leave it at that. But sometimes I will get the "Why?" but that's really rare, kids are usually perfectly happy with just a quick answer. I just go on to say that God decided to make him special, and that everybody is different in some way.

If your friend and his child are anything like my family, we are very open and proud of our son so answering questions doesn't phase us at all and we are happy to help people understand. I'm sure they get questions all the time, so don't feel bad! It comes with the territory

[drunkpeggy]

Jun 27, 2012 12:06:54 GMT -5 JakJak said:

My son was born with a birth defect that is very obvious, so we get questions from little kids all the time. Like others said, I would definitely talk to the parents first about what they are comfortable with, but I always say something along the lines of "That's just the way he was born" and usually most kids leave it at that. But sometimes I will get the "Why?" but that's really rare, kids are usually perfectly happy with just a quick answer. I just go on to say that God decided to make him special, and that everybody is different in some way.

If your friend and his child are anything like my family, we are very open and proud of our son so answering questions doesn't phase us at all and we are happy to help people understand. I'm sure they get questions all the time, so don't feel bad! It comes with the territory

Thanks for the feedback. I was just worried that such a simple answer would leave a lot of unanswered questions...obviously I don't have school aged kids yet so I have no idea what to expect.

[JakJak]

Jun 27, 2012 12:09:22 GMT -5 drunkpeggy said:

Jun 27, 2012 12:06:54 GMT -5 JakJak said:

My son was born with a birth defect that is very obvious, so we get questions from little kids all the time. Like others said, I would definitely talk to the parents first about what they are comfortable with, but I always say something along the lines of "That's just the way he was born" and usually most kids leave it at that. But sometimes I will get the "Why?" but that's really rare, kids are usually perfectly happy with just a quick answer. I just go on to say that God decided to make him special, and that everybody is different in some way.

If your friend and his child are anything like my family, we are very open and proud of our son so answering questions doesn't phase us at all and we are happy to help people understand. I'm sure they get questions all the time, so don't feel bad! It comes with the territory

Thanks for the feedback. I was just worried that such a simple answer would leave a lot of unanswered questions...obviously I don't have school aged kids yet so I have no idea what to expect.

No problem! It's amazing, I would say about 9 times out of 10 that answer is enough for the kids that will ask