Personally, I think it's great and presents an excellent opportunity to talk about how everyone is different. Or not talk about it, you know, and just carry on about your day unless your child asks about it. That's probably the best example, no? I wonder how the same parents who have complained deal with other folks who have disabilities or are different in some way. Do they not take their kids grocery shopping? Do they avert their child's eyes at the sight of a wheel chair or quickly maneuver to an area far fast away?
I never had a talk with my son about disabilities. Well, that's not true. I did talk about his own. He was born with several vision issues that are very obvious to anyone who looks at him. His eyes wiggle back and forth because of his nystagmus. One of his eyes is much smaller than the other because of his microphthalmia. And he was born with a cataract that, when removed, caused his pupil to be shaped more like an oval than a circle. The surgeries also left that eye a somewhat different color.
The problem I found, though, was not with children. Children did not make a big deal about his eye. Children did not even really seem to notice his eye. They certainly did not make fun of it and tease him about it as I'd feared. No. It was always an adult who noticed and said something to me or to him and not always in polite, curious ways. Sometimes in downright rude ways. So, I don't think it's the kids who have a problem with this happy, bubbly host. Do you?
A very good friend of mine is in a wheelchair, and she says the same thing about kids: it’s not their reactions, they barely ever have anything to ogle about except that maybe she’s the coolest adult riding around in her very own stroller… it’s the adults’ reactions that are the meanest or most bizarre. Once when her chair tripped on those newfangled bricks, she almost fell face first… she has a very strong upper body, and could have gotten herself up easily, but it was rainy and she didn’t want to get more wet. Of the several people that walked past her, only one kind gentleman even acknowledged she needed help. So THAT’s the example our children are seeing: it’s ok to ignore a person in need, it’s better to ignore a person with a disability. People are getting upset at having a disabled person “shoved” into their line of viewing, and they’re not liking it. I think it shows how we have become numb. Same friend, while she was in Europe (Czech Republic) people would stare in that curious un-mean way, and help whenever they saw her struggling with anything from a door to a cobblestone. Why??? I can’t really say. I blame the ADA. If the government cares for the disabled, then we (as individuals) don’t have to…
I agree it’s not the kids that are offended with the sight of a disabled person. My 4 nearly 5 year old has been watching the programme in question and only on 1 occassion has she mentioned “why is that lady missing her hand” I explained the best way I could without being too graphic, she is only 4, and she took the explaination without further questioning and has never mentioned it again. The only way a child can learn about these things is to see them and if they see that nobody else is bothered then they wont be either. Has everyone forgot that it is us, the parents that should be teaching our kids to accept people as they are, 1 arm 2 arms or none. I applaud the lady who I think is very courageous to put herself into the view of the kids, and maybe help get rid of the discrimination and not let it bleed into the next generation.
I think that people should be very careful about what they choose to become offended by. I saw the news report and it is different because as a society I think we are use to seeing “perfect” people on television. I think that it is good for those children who may be in the same situation where they may be missing a limb etc. How hard is it to explain that some people dont have a leg or arm etc. Children are a lot smarter than we as adults give credit to. To those parents that are complaining I wonder how they would feel if they had a less than physically “perfect” child and people were complaining about their child as being offensive to view in public or on television.