“As a mother of a child who looks different, this is my plea to you:
If you are the parent whose child says another child looks funny or scary, don’t simply say, “That isn’t a nice thing to say.” While you are right, it’s not nice, simply saying that and walking away still isolates my child. The next time follow that statement up and tell your child, “I’m sure he’s a very nice boy, let’s go meet him.” Please, come introduce yourself and ask my child’s name. I assure you, we don’t bite! My child is just like yours; he can be sweet, loving, throw temper tantrums, and be a handful. And I assure you, I am just like you; I am a parent learning my way through this.
If your child is curious and doesn’t say anything mean but still notices he looks different, please, introduce yourself to us, ask us our names! Include my child in your world. I promise you, he’s not scary, he’s just a little boy.”
– AliceAnn Meyer, He’s Not Scary, He’s a Little Boy
It’s 1 : 43 PM on day 1477 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, brush my teeth, read Proverbs 15, publish my Disability of the Day feature, stretch my hamstrings, practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles, feed myself All Bran Flakes with banana for breakfast, work on my upcoming campaign and help my sister practice for her Xhosa oral test via Skype – I love Skype because of it I was able to help my sister practice for her Xhosa oral test (I learned Xhosa when I was in boarding school living with Xhosa speaking kids).
Yesterday I read He’s Not Scary, He’s a Little Boy – a blog post in which a mother pleads with the world to see and treat her differently-abled son as they would any other little boy – I really felt for the boy and his mother when I was younger it hurt when I was singled out as being different and it must have hurt my mother to see me hurt thankfully I now see people’s curiosity as an opportunity to educate them about Cerebral Palsy and because I’m okay with being different my mother is starting to be okay with it as well.