You know.....we feel so enlightened as a society here in the US. At least we no longer put our kids with Down syndrome in mental institutions like they still do in Europe, right?
Right.
However, I am a bit puzzled by something both my husband and I have encountered more frequently than I would like to admit. When in public, some parents will pull their child away from Georgiy. Example.....I am in the Kaiser waiting room and there are lots of little kids. Small child walks up to my son and wants to play. Parent looks distraught and without saying a word, picks up said child and sits away from us.
Maybe they are afraid of germs, we *are* in a doctor's office after . That must be it.
Isaac takes the kids to the Milpitas Mall. There is a toy store there with an area where kids can play with a huge train table. Georgiy joins a small group of kids playing ,and suddenly parents pull their children away and our little man is alone at the train table.
I hope I am very wrong and this is not because he has a very obvious disability. But these are only 2 examples of many. And this does not happen when we are out with the other kids and Georgiy is not with us. But it is as if these people are afraid their kids might "catch" Down Syndrome".
Sad. Really really sad.
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9 comments:
The funny thing is, the kids don't notice that he has DS. I work at a special needs summer camp and one of my boys with ADHD KNOWS that his friend with autism is a little different. So he doesn't get mad if that child hugs him too hard, or stomps or splashes in the pool. he GETS that his friend is wired differently, and he's OK with that. In fact, he made him a crown to wear. Watching him run over to measure that little boy's head warmed my heart.
Ugh, I hate to hear things like this. What ignorance! For the most part you will meet wonderful, kind people who will be nice to your child (my experience) but there are always people like who you mentioned.:(
Amy
it makes me sad that there is still so much ignorance out there :(
rwikene
You know why God gave us our sons? Cause they needed us and we needed them :) They've taught us..Unfortunatly, not everyone is as lucky as us :) So now, we can be used & teach our sons to know how awesome they are no matter who says or does what. BTW..I just noticed we have names in common..we named our son from Ukraine Isaac and our son who we're waiting to come home from The Republic of Georgia will be Levi :) Nice names :) God Bless..
Oh, I know exactly what you mean, sadly it happens to us a lot too. Our three girls get a lot of attention when we are out, but parents never let their children come near them. Kara's ST wants us to take the girls to the mall to play in the playyard there. I told her, yes, great socialization "Come on honey, leave THAT little girl alone" if they only knew how ignorant people can be and how cruel.
Thankfully the girls never notice, at least not yet. :o*(
I think you should be a little careful with your very broard term - all Europeans look down upon DS! I am from Denmark and know of/have visited and lived in several countries in Europe where people with handicaps are being treated MUCH better than here in the so called free USA
Susanne
Susanne, I never said anywhere that all Europeans look down on DS. I suppose I could edit my post to specify which countries still institutionalize,but I figured that was pretty clear to people who read my blog, considering we adopted from Ukraine.
I was born and raised in Holland so I know very well that many European countries treat their disabled citizens quite well.
Parents pull their child away for many reasons. They don't know the predictibilty of your child running over and hugging their kid and knocking them over. Or your child might be frightened or hurt by their child. Honestly who wants the liability.
Don't force your kid on others, it isn't fair we have our own problems.
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